TB Vaccine Protected Newborns Against Infectious Diseases

The Lancet published a new study led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), 'BCG-induced non-specific effects on heterologous infectious disease in Ugandan neonates: an investigator-blind randomized controlled trial' on February 17, 2021.

This study investigated whether BCG vaccination in west Africa altered all-cause infectious disease morbidity in healthy infants in a different high-mortality setting and explored whether the changes are mediated via trained innate immunity.

After six weeks, infection rates from any disease were 25% lower in the group that received the BCG vaccine at birth compared to the group that had not yet received the vaccination. Particularly vulnerable groups, such as low birth weight babies, and boys, seemed to be protected the most.

Importantly, the BCG vaccine appeared to protect against mild, moderate, and severe types of infections.

Sarah Prentice, the lead author from LSHTM, stated in a press release, "Nearly a million babies die every year of common infections, so we urgently need better ways to protect them. Our research suggests that ensuring that BCG is given at birth could make a big difference in low-income countries, potentially saving many lives."

Study Interpretation: BCG vaccination protects against non-tuberculous infectious diseases during the neonatal period, in addition to having tuberculosis-specific effects. Strengthening existing programmes to ensure timely BCG vaccination would be a low cost, easily implementable intervention with public health benefits.