Immunology of tuberculosis.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection remains widespread, but the disease is generally limited to the primary infection stage. Patients with an immune defect or impaired immunity are more prone to develop the disease. A total of 8-10 million individuals are affected worldwide every year. A good understanding of Mtb immunity is therefore important to prevent tuberculosis or to develop new vaccines, based on immunomodulators already used for various diseases, and on the knowledge acquired since the unravelling of the genomic structure of Mtb.