ICMR testing BCG vaccine for tuberculosis
India is looking at several potential vaccine candidates for deployment in the tuberculosis elimination programme with the Indian Council for Medical Research testing the BCG vaccine for TB control.
Speaking to The Tribune on Tuesday, ICMR chief and secretary health research Rajiv Bahl said the BCG vaccine, currently administered to children, was being tested in adults vulnerable to TB. The Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is given to children at risk of tuberculosis (TB). It's a common vaccine in countries where TB is prevalent. India houses nearly one fourth of the global TB-affected people and has a target of elimination of the disease by 2025.
"The BCG vaccine study for potential TB control has two arms. One is the non-vaccinated arm and the other the vaccinated arm. We have administered the BCG vaccine to adults across all major tuberculosis vulnerability groups including those with diabetes, the elderly, the contacts of patients and others who are vulnerable. About one crore people have been given the vaccine and then we have the non-vaccinated people who are vulnerable to TB. In about a year, results will tell us whether the vaccinated people are showing any reduction in TB as compared to those who have not received the vaccine. The results will take a year to come," Bahl said.
He said results of a study that tested the recombinant BCG vaccine in contacts of TB patients did not yield good results.
"We are constantly testing for new TB vaccines. One candidate is a Spanish-developed vaccine which we are testing in the Indians in collaboration with Bharat Biotech which has received technology transfer from the Spanish firm. Unless we do a full evaluation of safety and efficacy we cannot use a vaccine in our programme. Our condition is to make the TB vaccine in India," said Bahl.
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