Despite this early writing on the wall, the misconception that TB could be conquered by antibiotics and BCG vaccination led to complacency for several decades. Initially, treatment with streptomycin appeared highly efficacious, but the tide turned when drug resistance rapidly developed, an early testimony of Mtb's ability to acquire drug resistance when treated by single antibiotics. These hopes were further boosted by the development of the first anti-tuberculous drugs during WWII by Selman Waksman, who discovered streptomycin bacteriostatic activity towards Mtb ( 7). bovis BCG vaccine, isolated by and named after Calmette and Guerin in Lille, France ( 6). Early last century, hopes were that TB could be conquered by vaccination with the newly developed M. Mtb, the intracellular pathogen that causes TB, was discovered in 1882 by Robert Koch and is responsible for more human deaths than any other single pathogen today ( 3- 5). In this article we review several important milestones of BCG vaccine development from the discovery till today. No universal BCG vaccination policy exists, with some countries merely recommending its use and others that have implemented immunization programs. However, its efficacy remains controversial. Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the only vaccine available today and has been used for more than 90 years with astonishing safety records. Treating and preventing TB has become a permanent challange since the ancient times. Moreover the emergence of multi-drug resistant TB and the current TB-HIV epidemic has raised even greater concern. Due to its infectious nature, chronic progression and long treatment, TB is a great burden for society. "Consumption" and "Phthisis" were terms historically used to describe TB, which was responsible for one in four deaths in the 19th century. Tuberculosis (TB) is still responsible for 2 million deaths every year despite being a treatable airborne infectious disease.
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