HIV-infected infants risk contracting a deadly form of tuberculosis from the bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, instead of receiving protection against the disease, according to research published today in the international public health journal, the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

While the BCG vaccine is given to approximately 75% of newborn babies worldwide, a South African study has found that its harm may outweigh the benefits for HIV-infected infants. The study recommends delaying vaccination until the infant's HIV status is known.

"There is an urgent need to assess the risk versus benefits of this vaccine in settings where both HIV infection and tuberculosis burdens are high," says co-author Professor Simon Schaaf, from the Desmond Tutu TB Centre at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Read the research paper here.

The Bulletin of the World Health Organization is one of the world's leading public health journals. It is the flagship periodical of the World Health Organization, with a special focus on developing countries. Research papers are peer reviewed and are independent of WHO recommendations and guidelines.

Further items in this Bulletin issue include:

- Could an expansion of antiretroviral treatment reduce HIV transmission?
- The Ethiopian Health Minister talks about a new approach to aid for health
- Spanish research shows car drivers should take a special test before riding a motorcycle
- How Asian countries are tackling multi-drug resistant tuberculosis
- Chagas disease 100 years after its discovery
- How Kenya developed services for victims of sexual violence
- Are pre-employment medical examinations useful?
- Struggling to pay the medical bills in Armenia

The Bulletin's table of contents can be found here.

The complete content of the Bulletin, since 1948, is now available free to all readers worldwide through PubMed Central, available here.

Source
WHO