New Delhi, Dec 03: Successful animal trials by Indian scientists have raised hopes for development of a new vaccine for treating tuberculosis, a major killer in developing countries. Tuberculosis is caused by organism Mycobacterium Tuberculosis and BCG is still the only vaccine available for its control. Although BCG gives protection in infants, its efficacy in adults has been questioned. Attempts to find an alternative to BCG have so far failed to yield a safe and effective vaccine.
Now scientists at Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow, claim to have found a "candidate vaccine" in the form of Mycobacterium Habana, a distant cousin of M Tuberculosis which is completely harmless.
During studies scientists injected live Mycobacterium Habana into experimental mice and subsequently infected the animals with tuberculosis germs to see if they developed the disease. They found that none of the vaccinated mice died while unvaccinated mice died within three to four weeks of infection by tuberculosis germs.
Furthermore, they found vaccinated animals to be healthier than unvaccinated mice. The number of tuberculosis germs in vaccinated group was 100 times less than in unvaccinated mice, indicating M Habana prevented multiplication of germs. Biopsy analysis showed while lungs of unvaccinated mice were severely damaged those of vaccinated mice were not. The CDRI scientists argue the observations show M Habana is a "good choice" for further studies as "candidate vaccine" for tuberculosis. Bureau Report