15.Discuss the following (fictional) press release... (version 3)

15.Discuss the following (fictional) press release... "The world is a safer [place with the advent of a new vaccine against tuberculosis announced the Health Minister during a visit to Gambia. The vaccine should be available to treat disease caused by the tubercle virus within two years, but travelers are warned to continue boiling water and avoiding contact with mosquito-infested water".

By Matthew Cozier


Mycobacterium Tuberculosis affects approximately 1/3 of the worlds population and is the single greatest threat to impoverished nations. The current vaccine available is the Bacillus_Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine which is prepared from a live attenuated strain of mycobacterium bovine tuberculosis bacillus. However the current vaccine is controversial, with efficacy ranging from 20 – 80% depending on which country the vaccine is being used in. World Health Organisation estimates that the overall average total efficacy is around 50%. In many parts of the world, any improvement on the current vaccine will help to improve health and potentially erradicate tuberculosis in some countries.

The fictional press release by the Health Minister of Gambia was factually inacurate on the grounds that he referred to the infectious microbial pathogen that causes tuberculosis as a virus. Tuberculosis is a chronic bacterial infection often inhaled. It has evolved it's own ecological 'sweet spot' or niche, where the immune system may have an increasingly difficult time trying to prevent spread and proliferation of the bacteria. Upon primary infection, most of the lungs are affected, where the individual begins to cough up blood and redistribute it around the alveoli. Over time, tubercules form to contain the bacteria, where inside the mycobacterium remains dormant. When the patient is immunocompromised, these tubercules may rupture facilitating for the widespread systemic spread of the bacteria. This secondary infection is moften fatal, since the patient suffers from an extreme inflammatory reaction leading to cardiovascular shock, compounded by the fact that the lungs become inflammed, causing low pO2 to circulate the body, and some amounts of blood to be lost while the patient coughs in prolonged fits.

The nature of the health ministers advice to continue boiling water and avoiding contact with mosquito infested water is sound and complies with most good health practices in the prevention of numerous water boune and mosquito bourne diseases such as malaria or cholera ect. However the advice does not relate specifically to an even greater threat concerning the spread of tuberculosis via the respiratory route. The government warning should have featured something along the lines of “cover your mouth when coughing/sneezing” not to spit, seek urgent medical attention, use antibiotics responsibly and comply with the prescribed dosage, continue vaccinating with the current BCG vaccines and perhaps wear a mask.

The very nature of this press release may furhter be questioned on the grounds that we should be skeptical of the new vaccines safety, efficacy, cost and ease of administration. With the prevalance of tuberculosis on the upsurge in many areas of europe, africa and india, there has been new range of antibiotic resistant and vaccine resistant tuberculosis. The development of new vaccines has been one priority of the WHO for years. Some of the new forms of vaccine include a live recombinant form of the vaccine that express some antigens presented on the surface of the M.tuberculosis. While efficacy is said to be slightly higher, the survival rates are significantly improved since it does not promote such a huge immune response.
Vaccines are among the most effective and economically viable way of erradicating tuberculosis however this will not be possibnle without continued development and clinical application of post-exposure prophylaxis treatments featuring new powerful antibiotics. These treatments may be futher facilitated with improved methods of detection and clinical diagnosis. Current techniques may involve an ELISA diagnositcs test of the sputum which may be unreliable on the grounds that they return both false positives and negatives. Subsequent serum analysis may also be helpful and provide additional confirmation to the sputum test; however this may be more expensive and take longer to have the results.

This press release does highlight one aspect of the campaign against TB that concerns the combined efforts of the public, the scientific community, aid workers and the government to help erradicate this disease. Tackling these diseases requires an enormous collaborative effort, involving time, money and co-operation. Many campaigns have been hosted over the years that use advertising and public media announcements to spread the word.

Conclusion;