MVA85A: New vaccine against TB

A new vaccine that works to prevent tuberculosis made by Oxford University and is in clinical trials in South Africa. This vaccine is very safe and stimulates a high level of immune response. The new vaccine is called MVA85A . The researchers tested this vaccine in the Gambia, a small country in West Africa.

Test results show that the vaccine is very safe and stimulates a high-level immune response, an important first factor to prevent TB infection. Now scientists study the MVA85A vaccine in phase II in the Western Cape, South Africa to determine its effectiveness compared to the old BCG vaccine.

Bacille Calmette-Guerin or BCG is a popular vaccine today. It can help prevent some forms of dangerous TB, but it is not effective for pulmonary tuberculosis, the most common form of tuberculosis.

Although there is a widely vaccinated vaccine, up to 1% of children in Western Cape have tuberculosis.

BCG vaccine (Photo: Lung.ca)

TB is the most deadly infectious disease in the world, second only to HIV / AIDS. Each year about 1.7 million people die from this disease and the situation of this disease becomes even more serious when new resistant strains of virus appear.

Dr. Helen McShane, researcher at Oxford University and Welcome Trust, project leader, said: The number of cases of multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis cases increased with the increasing number of HIV cases with tuberculosis. A new vaccine is needed. We cannot rely on antibiotics to treat illnesses anymore but we need to help the body's immune system prevent disease.

So, if the new vaccine trials in the Western Cape are successful, this will be an effective new weapon against tuberculosis-causing bacteria and will be put into general use within eight years.

The new vaccine (MVA85A) will co-exist and support the old vaccine (BCG) to prevent TB more effectively. Trials in the Gambia have shown that the new vaccine enhances the immune system much more strongly, but the issue that needs to be considered next is how effective it is to prevent disease.

A spokesperson for TB Alert, an active charity to raise global awareness about tuberculosis, said: If the MVA85A vaccine shows a much safer, cheaper and more effective than BCG with Long-term effects throughout its life, the introduction of this new vaccine into mass use creates a common immune system will be extremely significant in the prevention of tuberculosis.

Minh Minh