New tuberculosis (TB) vaccines in development have the potential to provide protection against all strains of the disease, including multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB strains.

The finding was announced here on Wednesday by Dr. Jerald Sadoff, president of the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, at the International Conference on Global Health.

Aeras, the non-profit organization dedicated to creating new TB vaccines, is working to develop at least one new TB vaccine regime for infants and one for adolescents within seven to nine years.

The agency and its partners have the largest TB vaccine pipeline in the world with six vaccine candidates in or expected to be in the Phase I-II trials in 2007.

Dr. Sadoff's announcement comes as the new, deadlier strains of TB -- including MDR and XDR -- are spreading around the world.

This week the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) quarantined a patient in Atlanta who was infected with XDR and had been traveling on transatlantic flights.

XDR TB is resistant to many of the first and second line drugs, severely limiting treatment options. At least 37 nations have reported XDR incidence.

"The rise of MDR and XDR TB, which has a particularly high fatality rate in people with HIV, makes our mission even more critical. The vaccines under development by Aeras and its partners are intended to protect against all strains of TB and to be safe for use in people infected with HIV," Dr. Sadoff said.

He noted that a new TB vaccine has been developed since the current vaccine, Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), came into use over 86 years ago. BCG provides some protection against severe forms of TB in children, but is unreliable against pulmonary TB, which accounts for most cases of the disease worldwide.

"New vaccines, along with new drugs and diagnostics, are essential to the elimination of TB as a public health threat," he said.

Source: Xinhua