New Vaccine Against Biggest Killer Disease Could Save Millions of Lives

An experimental vaccine against tuberculosis, the world’s most lethal infectious disease, has shown promising results, protecting around half of the 3,300 adults who got it according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The current practice requiring patients to take protective antibiotics every day for a month is not only more exhaustive than taking two shots in one month, but it also increases the risk of antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis to appear.

When preliminary trial results of the new vaccine by GSK were released a year ago, the World Health Organization dubbed it “a major scientific breakthrough.” With 10 million people getting tuberculosis each year, the new vaccine has the potential to save millions of lives.

The GSK vaccine was tested in adults in Kenya, South Africa and Zambia who already had latent tuberculosis – a silent infection that could potentially advance to active tuberculosis. Those who received two doses showed even better results, with only 13 developing active tuberculosis within three years.