More than 1.7 billion people—or a quarter of the world’s population—are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterial strain that causes tuberculosis (TB). For years, scientists have been working to develop an effective vaccine, but current TB vaccines are only partially protective. New research by a team including investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard Chan) has identified helpful and unhelpful aspects of the immune response that determine whether the body can keep TB infections under control. The findings, which are published in Immunity, may be helpful for designing a more effective vaccine.
New details behind the body’s response to tuberculosis could lead to a more effective vaccine
More than 1.7 billion people—or a quarter of the world's population—are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterial strain that causes tuberculosis (TB). For years, scientists have been working to develop an effective vaccine, but current TB vaccines are only partially protective. New research by a team including investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard Chan) has identified helpful and unhelpful aspects of the immune response that determine whether the body can keep TB infections under control. The findings, which are published in Immunity, may be helpful for designing a more effective vaccine.