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 Vol. 15 No. 3, March 2006
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AAP Grand Rounds 15:29-30 (2006)
© 2006 American Academy of Pediatrics

SENIOR MEMBERS AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES

BCG Vaccine Efficacy: A New Assessment

Source: Soysal A, Millington KA, Bakir M, et al. Effect of BCG vaccination on risk of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in children with household tuberculosis contact: a prospective community-based study. Lancet. 2005;366:1443–1451.[Medline]

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

Childhood tuberculosis (TB) is an increasing problem in countries where TB is prevalent. The greatest risk factor for infection in children is exposure to an adult with infectious pulmonary TB, especially in the same household.2 We have limited understanding of the factors affecting whether children exposed to TB become infected. The tuberculin skin test is usually the basis for determining the presence of TB infection in children. However, neonatal BCG vaccination, which is routine in many countries, makes determination of infection difficult because of the poor specificity and sensitivity of the tuberculin skin test in BCG-vaccinated children.3 A new, more accurate blood test, the ELISpot, enumerates gamma-interferon-producing T cells that respond to Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens, and unlike the tuberculin skin test, the results of this test are not altered by previous BCG . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Donald Schiff, MD, FAAP
University of Colorado School of Medicine and The Children’s Hospital, Denver, CO