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Old TB vaccine works better when injected into vein —Researchers

BCG vaccine for TB management

BCG vaccine for the management of tuberculosis

Tessy Igomu

The World Health Organisation has said that achieving 95 per cent reduction in deaths from tuberculosis on the one hand, and another 90 per cent reduction in tuberculosis incidence worldwide by 2035, will require a new vaccine that is effective at preventing adult tuberculosis.

The world health body also noted that vaccines offer the best chance to contain the accelerating spread of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis globally.

However, 22 researchers led by Patricia A. Darrah of the Vaccine Research Centre, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, are saying that an old vaccine for the management of tuberculosis may work better when delivered intravenously — that is, when administered directly into the vein with a thin needle.

This is not the same as drip, it has been clarified.

The WHO said tuberculosis, being the world’s leading cause of death from infection, is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria.

It said tuberculosis is spread through the air, often through coughing, by people with TB disease of the lungs; while others can simply breathe in the bacteria and become infected.

“Tuberculosis most commonly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB), but it can also spread to other parts of the body, including the kidney, spine, and brain (disseminated TB),” the world body said.

Researchers said what makes tuberculosis particularly insidious is that because symptoms are slow to manifest and can resemble other diseases, “it takes a long time before people with TB are diagnosed and given treatment.

“But until a person with TB gets treated with drugs, they can pass it on to other people, as the bacterium spreads fast through coughing, sneezing, and even singing.

“Others can breathe in these bacteria and become infected,” WHO said.

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