India’s Tuberculosis fight may get a shot in the arm | India News – Times of India

PUNE- In an attempt to end transmission of tuberculosis, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is in advanced stage of developing a vaccine against tuberculosis.
‘Currently the ICMR’s Indian Tuberculosis Research consortium is conducting a multi centre trial in order to study the efficacy and safety of two candidate TB vaccine,’ Dr Suchit Kamble, senior scientist at ICMR’s National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) said.
The phase 3 trials that are expected to be over by 2024, after which the patient data will be compiled and results will be analysed, Kamble said.
Currently, the phase 3 placebo controlled trials is being conducted in 18 sites across six states — Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, Delhi, Telangana and Odisha. The trial includes subjects above six years of age.
Childhood TB remains a major problem contributing to around 31% of the global burden.
ICMR’s National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) is also involved in the study and is conducting trials in two of its clinics. Tuberculosis is highly prevalent among HIV positive people who are low on immunity.
Researchers are hopeful about positive results from the study that has the potential to help the country end tuberculosis spread in future.
India witnessed a sharp 19% rise in tuberculosis cases in 2021 over the previous year, even as a huge majority of 64% of surveyed symptomatic population did not seek healthcare services between 2019 and 2021, the recently released India TB report 2022 and National TB Prevalence Survey shows.
A total of 19.33 lakh new and relapsed TB patients were notified in 2021, against 16.28 lakh in the previous year. Deaths due to TB also increased to 4.93 lakh, excluding HIV patients, in 2020, up 13% from a year ago, while the mortality rate due to all forms of TB between 2019 and 2020 rose by 11%.
Delhi, with 534 cases per 1 lakh population, has the highest prevalence of TB, followed by 484 in Rajasthan, 481 in Uttar Pradesh and 465 in Haryana and 454 in Chhattisgarh. Kerala has the lowest prevalence with 115 per 1 lakh people.