[Immunology of tuberculosis: impact on the development of novel vaccines]

Tuberculosis is an ancient health problem that is still not under control worldwide. High infection rates with the etiologic pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, persisting within the host organism and waiting for the opportunity to disseminate when the immune system is suppressed, and the long and cost-intensive chemotherapeutic treatment urgently require the development of a novel vaccine. This article reviews the immune response to M. tuberculosis infection resulting in new strategies for the improvement of the available vaccine Mycobacterium bovis BCG or for the development of alternative vaccines. A new vaccine should elicit a better immune response than the natural infection and reliably protect from TB disease, regardless if given prior or post infection with M. tuberculosis.