BCG vaccine ‘offers effective tuberculosis infection prevention in children’

A new UK study has demonstrated the effectiveness of the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine in protecting against tuberculosis infections among children.

Conducted by Public Health England and published in the British Medical Journal, the meta-analysis of 14 studies involved 3,855 participants and demonstrated that BCG-vaccinated children were less likely than unvaccinated children to experience TB infection after exposure.

Prior to this review, it was widely known that the BCG vaccine protects against the most severe forms of disease, such as tuberculosis meningitis, in children, but this is the first study to also show it can prevent an individual from becoming infected.

This is an important finding as the UK currently has the second-highest tuberculosis rate in western Europe.

Lead study author Dr Anjana Roy, senior scientist for Public Health England, said: "It reinforces the recommendation that BCG should be given as soon as possible after birth to prevent children from getting infected."

The BCG vaccine is estimated to provide effective protection against tuberculosis in up to eight out of ten people who receive it.