MONDAY, April 10 (HealthDay News) -- BCG vaccination for prevention of severe childhood tuberculosis is cost effective and should be retained in high-incidence countries located in South East Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the western Pacific, according to a report in the April 8 issue of The Lancet.
Christopher Dye, D.Phil., from the World Health Organization, and colleagues compared the costs and effects of BCG as an intervention against severe childhood tuberculosis in children born in 2002 and living in different regions. The authors determined the number of tuberculosis meningitis and miliary tuberculosis cases that were and will be prevented by BCG vaccination.
They estimated that the roughly 100 million BCG vaccinations in infants in 2002 will have prevented 29,729 cases of tuberculosis meningitis in the first five years of life and 11,486 cases of miliary tuberculosis, mostly in the high-incidence regions. Vaccination cost is about $200 for every year of healthy life gained.
BCG vaccinations "should be retained in high-incidence countries as a strategy to supplement the chemotherapy of active tuberculosis," the authors conclude. An accompanying editorial indicates that "this result is great news for children, for pediatricians working in the front line, and for directors of BCG vaccination programs in those regions with high rates of tuberculosis."
The authors report that they are all affiliated with public health organizations that recommend BCG vaccines for infants.
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