Sarhan Mohammed A
Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, King Khalid University, PO Box 9004, Abha 61413, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Med J. 2010 Jan;31(1):9-13.
Tuberculosis (TB) is still one of the leading causes of death from a single infectious agent, killing 1.6 million people each year, mostly in developing countries. The existing vaccines, Bacille Calmette and Guerin (BCG), are efficient in preventing the most severe disseminated forms of disease in children and newborns, but its efficacy against active TB in adults has been challenged by several clinical studies. It is a common opinion that only the development of a new and more effective vaccine against TB would significantly ease the deadly disease. In recent years, looking for a new vaccine or an improved TB vaccine is urgently needed. Such vaccines include new live and attenuated strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, improved recombinant BCG strains, subunit and DNA vaccines.
结核病（TB）仍然是单一感染源导致死亡的主要原因之一，每年造成160万人死亡，其中大多数在发展中国家。现有的疫苗卡介苗（BCG）在预防儿童和新生儿最严重的播散性疾病形式方面很有效，但它对成人活动性结核病的疗效受到了多项临床研究的质疑。人们普遍认为，只有开发出一种新的、更有效的抗结核病疫苗，才能显著缓解这种致命疾病。近年来，迫切需要寻找一种新的疫苗或改进的结核病疫苗。这类疫苗包括新型减毒活结核分枝杆菌菌株、改良的重组卡介苗菌株、亚单位疫苗和DNA疫苗。
