Lessons for tuberculosis vaccines from respiratory virus infection

Abstract

There is a worldwide epidemic of increasingly drug-resistant TB. Bacillus Calmette–Guérin vaccination provides partial protection against disseminated disease in infants but poor protection against later pulmonary TB. Cell-mediated protection against respiratory virus infections requires the presence of T cells in lung tissues, and the most effective prime–boost immunizations for Mycobacterium tuberculosis also induce lung-resident lymphocytes. These observations need to be taken into account when designing future vaccines against M. tuberculosis.

Keywords::

• lymphocyte homing
• respiratory virus
• T cells
• tuberculosis
• vaccine

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to P Openshaw for helpful discussion.

Financial and competing interests disclosure

PCL Beverley is supported by the Jenner Vaccine Foundation and is a Jenner Investigator. EZ Tchilian is supported by the European Union. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.