TB vaccine gets a needed boost
By Nathan Seppa
An experimental vaccine has proved it can greatly enhance immunity against tuberculosis (TB) in people who were previously vaccinated with the far-from-perfect bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine for TB. BCG was first used more than 80 years ago. It provides some protection in children but not adults.
The scientists gave the new vaccine to 17 volunteers who had received the BCG vaccine in the past—as recently as within a year or as long as 38 years ago. The team also enrolled 25 people who had never received a BCG shot. Of these, 14 received the new vaccine and 11 got a BCG shot.