In a breakthrough, US researchers have found that an improved tuberculosis vaccine may offer strong protection against leprosy.
“This is the first study demonstrating that an improved vaccine against tuberculosis also offers cross-protection against Mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy,” said Marcus A. Horwitz, a professor of medicine and microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics from University of California Los Angeles.
That means that this vaccine has great promise for better protection against both major diseases simultaneously.
In many parts of the world, leprosy and tuberculosis live side-by-side.
Worldwide, there are approximately 233,000 new cases of leprosy per year, with nearly all of them occurring where tuberculosis is endemic.
The currently available century-old vaccine Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) provides only partial protection against both tuberculosis and leprosy.
