Recombinant BCG: Innovations on an Old Vaccine. Scope of BCG Strains and Strategies to Improve Long-Lasting Memory.

ABSTRACT: Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), an attenuated vaccine derived from Mycobacterium bovis, is the current vaccine of choice against tuberculosis (TB). Despite its protection against active TB in children, BCG has failed to protect adults against TB infection and active disease development, especially in developing countries where the disease is endemic. Currently, there is a significant effort toward the development of a new TB vaccine. This review article aims to address publications on recombinant BCG (rBCG) published in the last 5 years, to highlight the strategies used to develop rBCG, with a focus on the criteria used to improve immunological memory and protection compared with BCG. The literature review was done in April 2013, using the key words TB, rBCG vaccine, and memory. This review

SUBMITTER: da Costa AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3984997 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature