The Bacille-Calmette Guérin (BCG) vaccine does not provide consistent protection against adult pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) worldwide. As novel TB vaccine candidates advance in studies and clinical trials, it will be critically important to evaluate their global coverage by assessing the impact of host and pathogen variability on vaccine efficacy. In this study, we focus on the impact that host ...

Some of the most promising vaccines in the pipeline for tuberculosis (TB) target adolescents and adults. Unlike for childhood vaccines, high-coverage population-wide vaccination is significantly more challenging for adult vaccines. Here, we aimed to estimate the impact of vaccine delivery strategies that were targeted to high-incidence geographical 'hotspots' compared with randomly allocated va...

The goal of vaccination to prevent tuberculosis disease (TB) is to offer long-term protection to the individual and the community. In addition, the success of any protective TB vaccine should include the ability to limit cavitary formation and disease progression. The current BCG vaccine protects against disseminated TB disease in children by promoting development of antigenic-specific response...

A number of new tuberculosis (TB) vaccines have been or are entering clinical trials, which include genetically modified mycobacteria, mycobacterial antigens delivered by viral vectors, or mycobacterial antigens in adjuvant. Some of these vaccines aim to replace the existing BCG vaccine but others will be given as a boosting vaccine following BCG vaccination given soon after birth. It is clear ...

Tuberculosis (TB) is still responsible for 2 million deaths every year despite being a treatable airborne infectious disease. "Consumption" and "Phthisis" were terms historically used to describe TB, which was responsible for one in four deaths in the 19th century. Due to its infectious nature, chronic progression and long treatment, TB is a great burden for society. Moreover the emergence of m...

In May 2005, the TB Vaccine Initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) Initiative for Vaccine Research convened a working meeting of regulators, investigators, and clinicians from developing and developed countries involved in tuberculosis (TB) vaccine regulation and research (see Text S1 for a list of participants). The purpose of the meeting was to specifi cally discuss the regulatory ...

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused mainly by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The World Health Organization estimates that 8.6 million new TB cases occurred in 2012, resulting in 1.3 million deaths [1]. TB is the second leading cause of death caused by an infectious disease worldwide after immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Despite the availability of an effective chemotherapy...

Tuberculosis (TB) is among the top 10 causes of death among children worldwide; however, children with TB are given low priority in most national health programs and are neglected in this epidemic. Recent technological advancements in diagnosis of TB in adults have not been validated in children. Similarly, trials of new drugs and development of pediatric formulations of standard first- and sec...

The current tuberculosis (TB) vaccine, bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), is a live vaccine used worldwide, as it protects against severe forms of the disease, saving thousands of lives every year, but its efficacy against pulmonary forms of TB, responsible for transmission of the diseases, is variable. For more than 80 years now no new TB vaccines have been successfully developed. Over the last de...