Tuberculosis vaccines in the era of Covid-19 - what is taking us so long?

Hazel M Dockrell; Helen McShane

doi:10.1016/j.ebiom.2022.103993

Tuberculosis vaccines in the era of Covid-19 - what is taking us so long?

EBioMedicine. 2022 May:79:103993. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2022.103993. Epub 2022 Apr 12.

Authors

Hazel M Dockrell¹, Helen McShane²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infection Biology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WCE 7HT, UK. Electronic address: hazel.dockrell@lshtm.ac.uk.
² The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK.

Abstract

The Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccine was first used in 1921, but has not controlled the global spread of tuberculosis (TB). There are still no new licensed tuberculosis vaccines, although there much active research and a vaccine development pipeline, with vaccines designed to prevent infection, prevent disease, or accelerate TB treatment. These vaccines are of different types, and designed to replace BCG, or to boost immunity following BCG vaccination. This viewpoint discusses why, when it has been possible to develop new vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 so quickly, it is taking so long to develop new tuberculosis vaccines.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; Tuberculosis; Vaccines.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

BCG Vaccine / therapeutic use
COVID-19 Vaccines
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Humans
Mycobacterium bovis*
Mycobacterium tuberculosis*
SARS-CoV-2
Tuberculosis Vaccines* / therapeutic use
Vaccination

Substances

BCG Vaccine
COVID-19 Vaccines
Tuberculosis Vaccines