New research has found that delivering a stronger form of the tuberculosis vaccine directly to the lungs can help generate protective immune cells to help fight the disease.
Dr Judith Blake, Associate Professor Andreas Kupz and Dr Roland Ruscher were part of a team from James Cook University's Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine investigating how to better combat TB.
Dr Kupz said there were 10.8 million new TB infections globally in 2023 and 1.3 million deaths.
"A principal reason for these high numbers is the ineffectiveness of the only licensed TB vaccine, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin or BCG, to protect adults. Because it is delivered as an injection after birth, it often doesn't produce long-term protection against respiratory infections," said Dr Kupz.
He said the team showed that inhalation of a modified BCG vaccine activated specific lung repair mechanisms that can help the body fight TB more effectively.
"Our work demonstrated a mechanism in which local delivery of BCG into the airways showed improved results and which holds several important implications for the development of a more effective TB vaccine," said Dr Blake.
"Essentially our work showed that cells that are recruited to repair injuries to the lung are involved in releasing a particular messenger molecule that helps to generate immune cells capable of fighting TB and for them to remain in the lung for much longer," she said.
"Our study reinforces the possibility of BCG vaccine administration by inhalation to humans.
"TB is a global health burden and one of the major causes of human death, and a new vaccine that produces this type of immunity is urgently needed," said Dr Kupz.
Link to paper here.
