• Question: How Long Did It Take To Make A Vaccine For Tuberculosis?

    Asked by 07hesn to Sarah on 22 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Sarah Burl

      Sarah Burl answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      The vaccine for TB (BCG) is one of the oldest vaccines available. It was first used in 1921 and is actually made from bovine (cow) TB, however because ithas been growing in culture ever since there are now a number of different strains of it and each have slightly different properties. Although BCG is very effective in some places like the UK it is not very effective in other areas such as Africa so new vaccines have been developed to replace or boost it. BCG is given at birth and appears to have some non-specific beneficial effects on child death so it will probably not be got rid of completely but other vaccines will be added to help protect against TB.

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