Vaccination against tuberculosis

Recent findings in mice have changed our perception of how protective immunity works in tuberculosis and hold promise for the rapid development of new vaccines. For example, we now know: (1) that a single mycobacterial protein antigen can be sufficient to generate powerful protective immunity, provided that it is presented to the immune system in the right way; (2) that the expression of protection depends on cytotoxic antigen-specific T cells; (3) that the identity of the antigen may be less important than the mode of presentation, and (4) that injection of DNA encoding the antigen (DNA vaccination) is a superior way of raising protective immunity compared to injection of the antigen itself. These advances are timely because there is an urgent need for a new vaccine against tuberculosis. There continue to be about 3 million deaths from tuberculosis every year worldwide and increasingly the causative bacteria are multidrug resistant.