Protecting against latent TB

A team of EU and U.S. researchers has created a subunit vaccine based on three Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens and shown that it protects healthy mice from tuberculosis and prevents reactivation of disease in mouse models of latent infection.¹ The approach could complement or replace current tuberculosis drug therapies, although there will be challenges in proving the vaccine is safe and effective in latently infected people.

Standard TB prophylaxis relies on the bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, which is effective at preventing childhood TB but does not protect against active disease in adults...