TB strain holds promise as vaccine
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
A strain of tuberculosis, genetically manipulated by scientists in a way that makes it easier for the immune system to detect, may provide the key for a new, more effective vaccine, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York reported in the August Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Scientists injected guinea pigs with either the mutant strain or the current vaccine, known as BCG, and then infected them with TB two months later. A year after infection, more than 75% of the mice receiving the mutant vaccine were alive, compared with 25% of mice given the current vaccine.
