Concurrent infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis confers robust protection against secondary infection in macaques.

ABSTRACT: For many pathogens, including most targets of effective vaccines, infection elicits an immune response that confers significant protection against reinfection. There has been significant debate as to whether natural Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection confers protection against reinfection. Here we experimentally assessed the protection conferred by concurrent Mtb infection in macaques, a robust experimental model of human tuberculosis (TB), using a combination of serial imaging and Mtb challenge strains differentiated by DNA identifiers. Strikingly, ongoing Mtb infection provided complete protection against establishment of secondary infection in over half of the macaques and allowed near sterilizing bacterial control for those in which a secondary infection was established. By con

SUBMITTER: Cadena AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6200282 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature