New TB vaccine protects half of people with latent infection



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An experimental vaccine GlaxoSmithKline could prevent tuberculosis to develop in half of cases, making it potentially the first new injection against the global killer in a century, said researchers Tuesday.

Given the failure of other candidates in recent years, it marks a milestone in the fight against tuberculosis, even though the 54% effectiveness rate achieved in adults in an intermediate clinical trial is low compared to vaccines against other diseases.

The current vaccine called Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) was developed in 1921 and is routinely given to babies in countries with high TB ​​rates to prevent serious diseases.

However, BCG protection dissipates in just a few years and does not protect against the most common form of TB that invades the lungs of adults and adolescents and can be transmitted by coughing and sneezing.

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