Tuberculosis surrendered the title of the world’s deadliest infectious disease after COVID-19 struck, but it reclaimed that terrible distinction last year. As with COVID, a new vaccine could go a long way to sharply curtailing the disease, which killed about 1.4 million people a year before the pandemic and increased its deadly toll a bit after COVID took hold.
Scientists in South Africa and the U.S., along with the South African company Afrigen Biologics & Vaccines, have come up with a promising new strategy for a tuberculosis vaccine, and while there’s a long road ahead to bring the shots to market, a successful effort could yield an important new tool against the deadly pathogen.
Equally important, the project could lay the foundation for a vaccine discovery and commercialization network being built in South Africa and in other low- and middle-income countries. During COVID, the world witnessed the devastating consequences of poor countries having to wait on rich ones to share vaccines. A successful homegrown TB vaccine could be a first step in reducing that reliance on wealthier nations — for current infectious diseases and whatever threats arrive next.
