Weekly round-up #260

#BCG100 - Resources still available!

Last Friday, 24th March, was World TB Day. Back in 2021, VALIDATE's “BCG100 Programme” marked the centenary of the first use of Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine for humans. First deployed in Paris in 1921, BCG is the first and, still a century later, only vaccine approved for humans that protects against tuberculosis (TB). BCG100 was a  public engagement campaign for which we created a lot of materials from online talks, to social media campaigns and even a series of video games. 

Some resources you can still use for you own engagement activities:

BCG Then and Now - A Public Lecture from the VALIDATE Network

In 'BCG Then and Now', Prof Paul Fine  (LSHTM) & Prof Helen McShane (University of Oxford) took us us on a journey from the initial development of the vaccine to the modern-day challenges in the fight against TB and the future challenges researchers face in replacing the enduring BCG vaccine.

Find out more and watch online.

TB and the use of BCG in Animals: Does it matter to people?

In this talk, Prof Michele Miller and Prof Glyn Hewinson discussed why effective vaccine programmes for animals are essential to the health and wellbeing of humans and the challenges that we still face in making such programmes a reality.

Find out more and watch online.

BCG100 for Schools - 11 May 2021 - 

A follow up/spin-off from our very successful VALIDATE for Schools event, Professor Michele Miller and Dr Wynand Johan Goosen from Stellenbosch University talked to students from around the world about their careers, their TB vaccine research, and their work with African wildlife.

Find out more and watch online.

BCG Adventures Computer Games

‘BCG Adventures’ is a series of simple, browser-based, retro 2D and 3D computer games that aim to raise interest and awareness of vaccine development. You can play the test versions of the games today:

#BCG100 Facts

From World TB Day 24 March 2021 till the 100th anniversary of the First Use of BCG on 18 July 2021, VALIDATE tweeted 100 facts about TB and BCG. You can find the infographics on our 100 Facts page.

Publications:

• New immunodiagnostic methods for human tegumentary leishmaniasis in the last 10 years: Technological Prospecting, Albuquerque LWN et al, in Acta Tropica
• TB Vaccines Update: is an RNA-based vaccine feasible for TB?, VALIDATE Members Sasha E. Larsen and Rhea Coler, in International Journal of Infectious Diseases
• Clinical trials of tuberculosis vaccines in the era of increased access to preventive antibiotic treatment, Rangaka MX et al  in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine

Check out our Publications Page for members' publications and email VALIDATE@ndm.ox.ac.uk if you have a paper you would like us to include.