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Interaction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with the host: consequences for vaccine development
Author(s) -
DIETRICH JES,
DOHERTY T. MARK
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
apmis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0903-4641
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0463.2009.02458.x
Subject(s) - tuberculosis , mycobacterium tuberculosis , immune system , tuberculosis vaccines , immunology , medicine , virology , biology , pathology
Mycobacterium tuberculosis , the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), remains a major worldwide health problem that causes more than 2 million deaths annually. In addition, an estimated 2 billion people are latently infected with M. tuberculosis . The bacterium is one of the oldest human pathogens and has evolved complex strategies for survival. Therefore, to be successful in the high endemic regions, any future TB vaccine strategy will have to be tailored in accordance with the resulting complexity of the TB infection and anti‐mycobacterial immune response. In this review, we will discuss what is presently known about the interaction of M. tuberculosis with the immune system, and how this knowledge is used in new and more advanced vaccine strategies.