Tuberculosis (TB) remains the prime bacterial infection worldwide with 10.4 million infections and a death toll of 1.7 million people in 2016 according to WHO statistics. Tuberculosis is caused by members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, facultative intracellular bacteria able to thrive within otherwise potent innate defense cells, the macrophages. In a world of increasing numbers of infections with drug resistant M. tuberculosis strains, the daunting race between developing new therapeutics and emerging resistant strains will hardly produce a winner. This cycle can only be broken by enhancing population wide immune control through a better vaccine as the only one currently in use, M. bovis Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG). The protective efficacy of BCG against pulmonary tuberculosis in all age groups is dissatisfying and geographically highly diverse with the tropical areas showing the lowest efficacy rates. Despite worldwide vaccination coverage, the impact of BCG on the steep decrease of tuberculosis incidence rates in the developed world seems therefore questionable and can rather be attributed to improved social, housing and nutritional conditions, better health care, surveillance and treatment systems. The last 15 years saw tremendous efforts to improve vaccination strategies against tuberculosis. Different paths of vaccine approaches were followed including genetically improved BCG strains, attenuated M. tuberculosis variants, recombinant viral vectors and subunit vaccine candidates combined with novel more potent adjuvants. With the first novel vaccine candidates being evaluated in clinical phases II and III and initial results chastening the expectations, a critical reassessment of all candidates is inevitable. Here, we assembled experts to review and assess the current status of novel anti-tuberculosis vaccine candidates, their efficacy and prospects for implementation as well as the pitfalls and possible measures for improvement.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the prime bacterial infection worldwide with 10.4 million infections and a death toll of 1.7 million people in 2016 according to WHO statistics. Tuberculosis is caused by members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, facultative intracellular bacteria able to thrive within otherwise potent innate defense cells, the macrophages. In a world of increasing numbers of infections with drug resistant M. tuberculosis strains, the daunting race between developing new therapeutics and emerging resistant strains will hardly produce a winner. This cycle can only be broken by enhancing population wide immune control through a better vaccine as the only one currently in use, M. bovis Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG). The protective efficacy of BCG against pulmonary tuberculosis in all age groups is dissatisfying and geographically highly diverse with the tropical areas showing the lowest efficacy rates. Despite worldwide vaccination coverage, the impact of BCG on the steep decrease of tuberculosis incidence rates in the developed world seems therefore questionable and can rather be attributed to improved social, housing and nutritional conditions, better health care, surveillance and treatment systems. The last 15 years saw tremendous efforts to improve vaccination strategies against tuberculosis. Different paths of vaccine approaches were followed including genetically improved BCG strains, attenuated M. tuberculosis variants, recombinant viral vectors and subunit vaccine candidates combined with novel more potent adjuvants. With the first novel vaccine candidates being evaluated in clinical phases II and III and initial results chastening the expectations, a critical reassessment of all candidates is inevitable. Here, we assembled experts to review and assess the current status of novel anti-tuberculosis vaccine candidates, their efficacy and prospects for implementation as well as the pitfalls and possible measures for improvement.

Vaccination is a fundamental component of preventive medicine and public health. The use of vaccines to prevent infectious diseases has resulted in dramatic decreases in disease, disability, and death in the United States and around the world. The current political, economic, and social environment presents both opportunities for and challenges to strengthening the U.S. system for developing, manufacturing, regulating, distributing, funding, and administering safe and effective vaccines for all people. Priorities for the National Vaccine Plan examines the extraordinarily complex vaccine enterprise, from research and development of new vaccines to financing and reimbursement of immunization services. Priorities for the National Vaccine Plan examines the extraordinarily complex vaccine enterprise, from research and development of new vaccines to financing and reimbursement of immunization services. The book makes recommendations about priority actions in the update to the National Vaccine Plan that are intended to achieve the objectives of disease prevention and enhancement of vaccine safety. It is centered on the plan's five goals in the areas of vaccine development, safety, communication, supply and use, and global health.

This ambitious reference surveys worldwide efforts at controlling the spread of tuberculosis, with special emphasis on the developing world. Case studies from China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia, and other frontline countries demonstrate a wealth of information on clinical, cultural, socioeconomic, and other relevant factors. This compilation provides a valuable resource for creating successful intervention and prevention strategies. State-of-the-science snapshots pinpoint where short- and long-term initiatives stand today, from early detection and vaccination programs to new genetic technologies and drug therapies. This diverse group of perspectives and approaches offers innovative paths toward control and realistic odds for containing the threat, especially in the face of current co-epidemics and new drug-resistant strains. Among the topics in the Handbook: Diagnosis of tuberculosis: current pipeline, unmet needs, and new developments Concurrence of tuberculosis and other major diseases The tuberculosis outbreak response, investigation, and control The promise of new TB vaccines DNA fingerprinting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: a rich source of fundamental and daily applicable knowledge Global tuberculosis surveillance The Handbook of Global Tuberculosis Control is urgent reading for leadership and staff of non-governmental organizations, government agencies, academic institutions, research centers, hospitals, and potentially businesses with interests in tuberculosis control. Additionally, the book's focus on TB in developing countries will attract a wider audience of practitioners, particularly those working in the broader fields of global public health, epidemiology, international development, and the socioeconomics of infectious diseases.

WHO has published a global TB report every year since 1997. The main aim of the report is to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the TB epidemic, and of progress in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease, at global, regional and country levels. This is done in the context of recommended global TB strategies and targets endorsed by WHO?s Member States, broader development goals set by the United Nations (UN) and targets set in the political declaration at the first UN high-level meeting on TB (held in September 2018). The 2019 edition of the global TB report was released on 17 October 2019. The data in this report are updated annually. Please note that direct comparisons between estimates of TB disease burden in the latest report and previous reports are not appropriate. The most recent time-series of estimates are published in the 2019 global TB report.

Tuberculosis emerged as an epidemic in the 1600s, began to decline as sanitation improved in the 19th century, and retreated further when effective therapy was developed in the 1950s. TB was virtually forgotten until a recent resurgence in the U.S. and around the worldâ€"ominously, in forms resistant to commonly used medicines. What must the nation do to eliminate TB? The distinguished committee from the Institute of Medicine offers recommendations in the key areas of epidemiology and prevention, diagnosis and treatment, funding and organization of public initiatives, and the U.S. role worldwide. The panel also focuses on how to mobilize policy makers and the public to effective action. The book provides important background on the pathology of tuberculosis, its history and status in the U.S., and the public and private response. The committee explains how the U.S. can act with both self-interest and humanitarianism in addressing the worldwide incidence of TB.