BACKGROUND Tuberculosis (TB) is a re-emerging problem, especially in the larger cities of Western Europe. Selective neonatal BCG vaccination is recommended for infants at risk of TB in the UK. Neonatal BCG is safe and effective, with an overall protective value of 75%. This study aimed to assess BCG rates among at risk infants in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales in the year 2003. ...

The ability of 17 recombinant mycobacterial proteins, native antigen 85 complex, lipoarabinomannan (LAM), and Mycobacterium tuberculosis lysate to detect antibody responses induced by bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination and active tuberculosis infection were studied in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Only LAM-reactive serum immunoglobulin G responses were significantly increased in bo...

Summary The ‘BCG hypothesis' suggests that the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine against tuberculosis limits severity of COVID-19. We exploit differential vaccination practices East Germany and West prior to reunification test this hypothesis. Using a difference in regression discontinuities (RD-DD) design centred on end universal West, we find differences COVID-19 across cohorts are insig...

Current efforts are aimed at optimizing the protective efficacy of Mycobacterium bovis BCG by the use of vaccine combinations. We have recently demonstrated that the protection afforded by BCG alone is enhanced by vaccinating cattle with a combination of vaccines comprising BCG and a protein tuberculosis vaccine, namely, culture filtrate proteins (CFPs) from M. bovis plus an adjuvant. In the cu...

INTRODUCTION Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is an attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis. Usually, systemic complications due to BCG vaccination are quite rare. However, since BCG is a live vaccine, there is still a possibility that it may cause an infection. CASE PRESENTATION Hepatic granuloma was found incidentally in an asymptomatic 5-month-old infant who was found dead in his bed. The p...

The opinions about BCG action on the development of lesions which occur in rats, experimentaly infected with M. lepraemurium, are not in accordance. It was verified that previous BCG vaccination does not alter the intensity and the development of the lesions, (28, 20) or produces a partial inhibition in the evolutive rate of the lesions (2, 3, 23, 26). Yet, it has been settled that BCG administ...

Tuberculin skin test (TST) interpretation can be confounded by Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination and infection with nontuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM). However, a wealth of epidemiologic information has allowed the formulation of recommendations for reasonably informed interpretation of the TST in most clinical situations. In the Middle East, the TST remains a useful test. BCG vaccinat...

Using a rabbit model of tuberculous meningitis, we evaluated the protective efficacy of vaccination with the recombinant polyprotein Mtb72F, which is formulated in two alternative adjuvants, AS02A and AS01B, and compared this to vaccination with Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) alone or as a BCG prime/Mtb72F-boost regimen. Vaccination with Mtb72F formulated in AS02A (Mtb72F+AS...

The need for improved tuberculosis control remains a global health priority. The most cost-effective long-term solution for any infectious disease epidemic is effective vaccination. The only licensed vaccine against tuberculosis, BCG, when administered at birth, is highly effective at preventing disseminated disease in childhood. However, the protection conferred against pulmonary disease is hi...

The early innate response after Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccination is poorly characterized, but probably decisive for subsequent protective immunity against tuberculosis. Therefore, we vaccinated mice with fluorescent BCG strains in the ear dorsum, as a surrogate of intradermal vaccination in humans. During the first three days, we tracked BCG host cells migrating out of the dermis to the auri...