Tuberculosis (TB) is rapidly overtaking Covid-19 as the world’s deadliest infection.
Recently, experts have been concerned that mutant strains of the virus that are resistant to antibiotics could be imported to Britain which is concerning as currently, the current BCG vaccine to protect against TB which is given to young children, wanes before the teenage years leaving teens and adults potentially at risk of these mutant strains.
In an exclusive revealed by The Mirror today, British military testing site Porton Down is evaluating several TB vaccination candidates on animals for pharmaceutical companies.
These ongoing tests using live TB bacteria in world-leading high containment laboratories indicate that the MTBVAC vaccination by Spanish firm Biofabri stands out as a great hope of a breakthrough.
This vaccine is still going through clinical trials but, if it is successful, Biofabri has promised that it will be sold at affordable prices to low and middle income countries.
First successful TB vaccine developed in 100 years
If this is successful, it will be the first successful TB vaccine developed in 100 years which is surreal when we consider that five vaccinations were developed for Covid at rapid-speed; less than two years.
While the BCG vaccination is effective against more severe forms of the disease in children, it isn’t as effective as TB affecting the lungs in adults meaning that the BCG vaccination has limited impact on the spread of the disease.
Despite being widely considered to be a thing of the past, TB is actually one of the 10 leading causes of death worldwide and in 2021, there were 7.8 TB cases per 100,000 people in England.
Bestselling author raised awareness of TB spread
Writing for the Washington Post, bestselling author and longtime supporter of Partners In Health John Green wrote in May of this year, “for almost all of human history, [TB] has been the world’s deadliest infectious disease… about 1.5 million people still die each year of tuberculosis — more than die of malaria, homicide and war combined. That fact is especially horrifying given that TB has been largely curable for over 70 years.
He added: ”Roughly 4,000 people on this planet died of tuberculosis yesterday. From a curable disease. We need not accept such a world. TB treatment must be made available to all, so that tuberculosis can become what it should have been long ago: history.”
If the MTBVAC vaccination is approved and distributed, it offers hope to the world as a whole, not just our rising risk in Britain.