Medical Discovery News
Science permeates everyday life. Yet the understanding of advances in biomedical science is limited at best. Few people make the connection that biomedical science is medicine and that biomedical scientists are working today for the medicine of tomorrow. Our weekly five-hundred-word newspaper column (http://www.illuminascicom.com/) and two-minute radio show provide insights into a broad range of biomedical science topics. Medical Discovery News is dedicated to explaining discoveries in biomedical research and their promise for the future of medicine. Each release is designed to stimulate listeners to think, question and appreciate how science affects their health as well as that of the rest of the world. We also delve into significant biomedical discoveries and portray how science (or the lack of it) has impacted health throughout history.
Medical Discovery News
A New Tuberculosis Vaccine -Finally
891 - A New Tuberculosis Vaccine -Finally
Welcome to Medical Discovery News. I’m Dr. David Niesel.
And I’m Norbert Herzog
The pathogen responsible for the most human deaths is mycobacterium tuberculosis or MTB. It causes tuberculosis or TB.
Even though for a century we’ve had the BCG vaccine, it doesn’t prevent the most common form of TB, pulmonary TB. But now we have the best hope for one that works: the M-seventy-two vaccine.
It’s made up of a fusion of two MTB proteins, combined with other components called adjuvants that stimulate the immune system. In human clinical trials, the M-seventy-two vaccine has shown that it reduces the risk of adolescents and adults developing active TB even in those with HIV.
This is key since TB has become harder to treat over time as it quickly developed resistance to antibiotics and in recent years, some TB have become resistant to all antibiotics.
In low to middle-income countries where eighty percent of TB cases occur, these problems are made worse because people often can’t access medical care. That spurred the search for a better vaccine to replace BCG.
The Welcome and the Gates Foundation are together committing five hundred fifty million dollars to fund a phase three clinical trial testing the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.
If successful, M-seventy-two could be the first TB vaccine to protect adolescents and adults from pulmonary TB which would be a game changer for African and Southeast Asian communities with high levels of the disease.
We are Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, at UTMB and Quinnipiac University, where biomedical discoveries shape the future of medicine. For much more and our disclaimer go to medicaldiscoverynews.com or subscribe to our podcast. Sign up for expanded print episodes at www.illuminascicom.com
