Prime-boost immunisation strategies for tuberculosis.

Vaccines against intracellular pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis need to induce strong cellular immune responses. Heterologous prime-boost immunisation strategies induce higher levels of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells than homologous boosting with the same vector. Recombinant pox-viruses are...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mcshane, H, Hill, A
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2005
Description
Summary:Vaccines against intracellular pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis need to induce strong cellular immune responses. Heterologous prime-boost immunisation strategies induce higher levels of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells than homologous boosting with the same vector. Recombinant pox-viruses are particularly good at boosting previously primed T cell responses. Using BCG as the priming immunisation in such a heterologous prime-boost strategy is a practical solution, which allows the beneficial effects of BCG in children to be maintained.