• Question: Could you explain, in more detail, how this vaccine combats tuberculosis and how it affects your body?

    Asked by anon-256630 to Rachel on 22 Jun 2020.
    • Photo: Rachel Tanner

      Rachel Tanner answered on 22 Jun 2020:

      Hi Claudia, thanks for your question! The only vaccine we have for tuberculosis at the moment is the BCG vaccine, which works very well in some populations (like in the UK) but doesn’t work at all in other populations (like in India). So we really need to find a new TB vaccine that is effective everywhere – especially in the countries that have high rates of TB!

      The BCG vaccine is based on a bacteria that is very similar to the one that causes TB, but it is safe and can’t make you sick. What it does do is ‘train’ your immune system so that if you do come across TB in the future, your immune system is prepared to fight it off! So the way vaccines affect your body is by making your immune system stronger and better prepared 🙂

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