Eliminating TB By 2050: New Vaccines Target Adults And Teens Instead of Infants

New findings published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) show that vaccines for adults and teens could potentially eliminate tuberculosis (TB) by 2050. Unlike previous vaccines, researchers are hoping to target older patients instead of infants.

Scientists at the London School of Hygiene and the Stop TB Department at the Wolrd Health Organization found that a vaccine given to adolescents and adults in low- and middle-income countries could help to create a much larger impact on the burden of TB worldwide and be more cost-effective than more high price ones available.

Statistics show that TB affects many young adults and kills more one million every year, with close to 95 percent of whom are in low- and middle-income countries. Yet the Wolrd Health Organization has set the goal of eliminating the health issue by 2050 with help from vaccines like these and others proposed.

The researchers used a mathematical model to estimate the impact and cost-effectiveness of a range of vaccination strategies in low- and middle-income countries. Assuming these vaccines become available in 2024, they identified which strategy would have the greatest impact on TB worldwide over the years 2024 to 2050.

"Dramatic levels of control are needed to eliminate TB and new vaccines need to be developed now," said lead study author Gwen Knight, research fellow in infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, in a news release. "But because trials of TB vaccines are hugely expensive, their development needs very clear guidance. If elimination by 2050 is the goal, our study provides evidence that new vaccines should focus on targeting adolescents and adults rather than children."

Yet currently, the available TB vaccine, bacilli Calmette-Guerine (BCG) is widely given to infants. However, TB cases and deaths remain extremely high, according to researchers.

Only with new and improved vaccinations can these numbers be brought under, according to health officials.