How can the introduction of a new TB vaccine for adolescents and adults change the public health approach to tuberculosis in India?

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health challenge in India, which has the highest TB burden in the world. Current strategies focus on early detection, treatment, and prevention, but the only available vaccine (BCG) is mainly effective in children. The introduction of a new TB vaccine for adolescents and adults could significantly alter India’s approach to TB control.

• Expanded Prevention: A new vaccine targeting adolescents and adults would help protect age groups that are most affected by active TB, reducing new infections and transmission.
• Reduced Disease Burden: Vaccinating older age groups could lower the overall incidence and prevalence of TB, easing the pressure on healthcare infrastructure.
• Interrupting Transmission: Since adults are the main transmitters of TB, immunizing them can break the chain of transmission within communities.
• Complementing Existing Strategies: The vaccine can work alongside current strategies like active case finding, contact tracing, and DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course), making these interventions more effective.
• Targeted Immunisation Campaigns: Public health programmes can design specific campaigns for high-risk groups such as healthcare workers, slum dwellers, and people with comorbidities, increasing the impact of vaccination.
• Progress Towards Elimination: The new vaccine could accelerate India’s progress towards its goal of eliminating TB by 2025 by preventing latent TB from progressing to active disease.
• Potential Cost Savings: By preventing new TB cases, the vaccine could reduce long-term treatment costs and economic losses associated with TB-related morbidity and mortality.
• Addressing Drug-Resistant TB: Preventing TB through vaccination could help reduce the emergence and spread of drug-resistant TB strains, which are harder and costlier to treat.