Journal
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS
Volume 32, Issue 5, Pages 821-841Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6976.2008.00118.x
Keywords
BCG; bacille Calmette-Guerin; tuberculosis; strain; immunity
Categories
Funding
- Swiss National Science Foundation
- European Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases
- University of Melbourne
- Aeras Global Tuberculosis Vaccine Foundation
- NIH [RO1-AI065653, NO1-AI70022]
- Dana Foundation
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation [GC6-74, GC12-82]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine has been used for more than 80 years to protect against tuberculosis. Worldwide, over 90% of children are immunized with BCG, making it the most commonly administered vaccine, with more than 120 million doses used each year. Although new tuberculosis vaccines are under investigation, BCG will remain the cornerstone of the strategy to fight the worsening tuberculosis pandemic for the foreseeable future. The recent delineation of genetic differences between BCG vaccine strains has renewed interest in the influence of the vaccine strain on the protective efficacy against tuberculosis. This review critically examines the data from animal and human studies comparing BCG vaccine strains. Although there is good evidence to support the notion that the induced immune response and protection afforded against tuberculosis differs between BCG vaccine strains, currently, there are insufficient data to favour or recommend one particular strain. Identifying BCG strains with superior protection would have a dramatic effect on tuberculosis control at a population level: a small increment in protection provided by BCG immunization will prevent large numbers of cases of severe tuberculosis and deaths, particularly in children.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available