BCG vaccination in malnourished child population

Abstract

The efficacy of BCG vaccination is still a subject of controversy. In the present study the protective role of BCG vaccination, the influence of nutritional status and justification for revaccination in children were investigated. Of the 504 preschool children suffering from tuberculosis who were registered for the study, 345 children did not receive BCG vaccine while the others had it during early infancy. Vaccinated children showed a significantly greater tendency to localise the tubercular lesions while most of the unvaccinated children suffered from progressive forms of the infection. Vaccination had similar effects even when there was associated malnutrition. Age did not seem to influence the severity of the disease in unvaccinated children while older children (greater than 3 yrs) had a greater tendency to localise the lesion in the vaccinated group. These data do not support the proposal of administering a booster dose of BCG to children who were vaccinated during early infancy.