The first attempts in 90 years with a new tuberculosis vaccine have failed. Lancet informs that in children, unfortunately, it did not turn out to be more effective than the preparation available for a long time.
The vaccine marked with the abbreviation MVA85A has been tested by specialists from the University of Oxford in Great Britain. Work on it was undertaken to replace the BCG vaccine (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) introduced in 1921. Its protective effect expires quite quickly, even after several years, and is also quite limited. In the USA, it is even less effective due to the fact that a strain of bacteria that causes tuberculosis is more common there than in Europe.
Unfortunately, the new formulation is not much better. It was shown by tests on about 3. children in South Africa who have previously been vaccinated with BCG. They were divided into two groups – however, they received a new vaccine, and the other – only a placebo.
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Two years later, 32 children who received the new vaccine became infected with tuberculosis, and almost the same number, 39 children, who were given only a placebo. This difference is statistically insignificant and indicates that the resistance in both groups is similar. Thus, the new vaccine is as effective as the older generation BCG formulation.
It is not known, however, why the new vaccine was less effective in neonates than in adults. The journal does not provide any data on what specific effects were obtained in adults.
Dr Ann Ginsberg of Rockville, Maryland, who also participated in the study, said six other TB vaccines are under development. Two of them, owned by pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson’s and GlaxoSmithKline, are undergoing large clinical trials.