Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Neonatal BCG vaccination and child survival in TB-exposed and TB-unexposed children : A prospective cohort study

Thysen, Sanne M. ; Benn, Christine Stabell ; Gomes, Victor Francisco ; Rudolf, Frauke ; Wejse, Christian ; Roth, Adam LU ; Kallestrup, Per ; Aaby, Peter and Fisker, Ane (2020) In BMJ Open 10(2).
Abstract

Objectives To assess the association between neonatal BCG vaccination and mortality between 28 days and 3 years of age among tuberculosis (TB)-exposed and TB-unexposed children. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Bandim Health Project runs an urban Health and Demographic Surveillance site in Guinea-Bissau with registration of mortality, vaccination status and TB cases. Participants Children entered the analysis when their vaccination card was inspected after 28 days of age and remained under surveillance to 3 years of age. Children residing in the same house as a TB case were classified as TB-exposed from 3 months prior to case registration to the end of follow-up. Methods Using Cox-proportional hazards models with age as... (More)

Objectives To assess the association between neonatal BCG vaccination and mortality between 28 days and 3 years of age among tuberculosis (TB)-exposed and TB-unexposed children. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Bandim Health Project runs an urban Health and Demographic Surveillance site in Guinea-Bissau with registration of mortality, vaccination status and TB cases. Participants Children entered the analysis when their vaccination card was inspected after 28 days of age and remained under surveillance to 3 years of age. Children residing in the same house as a TB case were classified as TB-exposed from 3 months prior to case registration to the end of follow-up. Methods Using Cox-proportional hazards models with age as underlying time scale, we compared mortality of children with and without neonatal BCG between October 2003 and September 2017. Main outcome measure HR for neonatal BCG compared with no neonatal BCG by TB-exposure status. Results Among the 39 421 children who entered the analyses, 3022 (8%) had observation time as TB-exposed. In total, 84% of children received neonatal BCG. Children with neonatal BCG had lower mortality both in TB-exposed (adjusted HR: 0.57 (0.26 to 1.27)) and in TB-unexposed children (HR: 0.57 (95% CI 0.47 to 0.69)) than children without neonatal BCG. Children exposed to TB had higher mortality than TB-unexposed children if they had not received neonatal BCG. Conclusion Neonatal BCG vaccination was associated with lower mortality among both TB-exposed and TB-unexposed children, consistent with neonatal BCG vaccination having beneficial non-specific effects. Interventions to increase timely BCG vaccination are urgently warranted.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
epidemiology, paediatric infectious disease & immunisation, public health, tuberculosis
in
BMJ Open
volume
10
issue
2
article number
e035595
publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:85080840092
  • pmid:32114478
ISSN
2044-6055
DOI
10.1136/bmjopen-2019-035595
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
906ce847-c4b1-423c-accd-7940414140d4
date added to LUP
2020-03-18 14:35:30
date last changed
2024-05-01 06:26:40
@article{906ce847-c4b1-423c-accd-7940414140d4,
  abstract     = {{<p>Objectives To assess the association between neonatal BCG vaccination and mortality between 28 days and 3 years of age among tuberculosis (TB)-exposed and TB-unexposed children. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Bandim Health Project runs an urban Health and Demographic Surveillance site in Guinea-Bissau with registration of mortality, vaccination status and TB cases. Participants Children entered the analysis when their vaccination card was inspected after 28 days of age and remained under surveillance to 3 years of age. Children residing in the same house as a TB case were classified as TB-exposed from 3 months prior to case registration to the end of follow-up. Methods Using Cox-proportional hazards models with age as underlying time scale, we compared mortality of children with and without neonatal BCG between October 2003 and September 2017. Main outcome measure HR for neonatal BCG compared with no neonatal BCG by TB-exposure status. Results Among the 39 421 children who entered the analyses, 3022 (8%) had observation time as TB-exposed. In total, 84% of children received neonatal BCG. Children with neonatal BCG had lower mortality both in TB-exposed (adjusted HR: 0.57 (0.26 to 1.27)) and in TB-unexposed children (HR: 0.57 (95% CI 0.47 to 0.69)) than children without neonatal BCG. Children exposed to TB had higher mortality than TB-unexposed children if they had not received neonatal BCG. Conclusion Neonatal BCG vaccination was associated with lower mortality among both TB-exposed and TB-unexposed children, consistent with neonatal BCG vaccination having beneficial non-specific effects. Interventions to increase timely BCG vaccination are urgently warranted.</p>}},
  author       = {{Thysen, Sanne M. and Benn, Christine Stabell and Gomes, Victor Francisco and Rudolf, Frauke and Wejse, Christian and Roth, Adam and Kallestrup, Per and Aaby, Peter and Fisker, Ane}},
  issn         = {{2044-6055}},
  keywords     = {{epidemiology; paediatric infectious disease & immunisation; public health; tuberculosis}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  number       = {{2}},
  publisher    = {{BMJ Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{BMJ Open}},
  title        = {{Neonatal BCG vaccination and child survival in TB-exposed and TB-unexposed children : A prospective cohort study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-035595}},
  doi          = {{10.1136/bmjopen-2019-035595}},
  volume       = {{10}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}