Age-targeted tuberculosis vaccination in China and implications for vaccine development: a modelling study

Publication date: Available online 7 January 2019Source: The Lancet Global HealthAuthor(s): Rebecca C Harris, Tom Sumner, Gwenan M Knight, Tom Evans, Vicky Cardenas, Chen Chen, Richard G WhiteSummaryBackgroundTuberculosis is the leading single-pathogen cause of death worldwide, and China has the third largest number of cases worldwide. New tools, such as new vaccines, are needed to meet WHO tuberculosis goals. Tuberculosis vaccine development strategies mostly target infants or adolescents, but given China's ageing epidemic, vaccinating older people might be important. We modelled the potential impact of new tuberculosis vaccines in China targeting adolescents (15–19 years) or older adults (60–64 years) with varying vaccine characteristics to inform strategic vaccine development.MethodsA Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission model was calibrated to age-stratified demographic and epidemiological data from China. Varying scenarios of vaccine implementation (age targeting [adolescents or older adults] and coverage [30% or 70%]) and characteristics (efficacy [40%, 60%, or 80%], duration of protection [10 years or 20 years], and host infection status required for efficacy [pre-infection, post-infection in latency, post-infection in latency or recovered, or pre-infection and post-infection]) were assessed. Primary outcomes were tuberculosis incidence and mortality rate reduction in 2050 in each vaccine scenario compared with the baseline (no new vaccine) scenario and cumulati...
Source: The Lancet Global Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research