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Tuberculosis vaccine may not prevent infection in babies

By WEEK Producer
By NBC News

Tuberculosis vaccine may not prevent infection in babies

February 4, 2013 Updated Feb 4, 2013 at 5:20 PM CDT

ROCKVILLE, Md.-- A new tuberculosis vaccine does not help prevent infections in infants.

Although TB affects over 8 million people worldwide, the current vaccine is only marginally effective, and it is not even used in the United States.

Now, after testing the new vaccine on a group of South African infants, researchers say it was no better than a placebo in preventing new cases or stopping the progressions of existing infections.

Experts say although the vaccine does not protect babies from TV, it might possibly benefit adolescents or adults.

This study was led by researchers at Aeras, the developers of vaccine, and published in 'The Lancet'.

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