Tuberculin testing before BCG vaccination

doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7409.243

BMJ 2003;327:243-244 (2 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7409.243

Editorial

Tuberculin testing before BCG vaccination

May not be necessary

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

BCG vaccination is effective against forms of tuberculosis thatoccur commonly in childhood that have a high morbidity andmortality, such as tuberculous meningitis.^{1
2} Current guidelinesfor the United Kingdom recommend tuberculin skin testing beforeBCG vaccination for all children older than 3 months.³ The evidence base for this recommendation is unclear—no randomised controlled trials have been conducted to compare outcome ofBCG vaccination with and without prior tuberculin skin testing,and the resulting two or three stage procedure seriously compromisesuptake.

The BCG vaccine was not available in the United Kingdom from9 August 2002—when all stocks from the monopoly supplier,Evans Vaccines, were declared potentially ineffective by theMedicines Control Agency and the Department of Health—untilsupplies from Denmark's State Serum Institute became accessibleduring December 2002. The currently available BCG vaccine is for intradermal use only. From November 1998 to July 2001 asimilar loss of supply . . . [Full text of this article]

Graham H Bothamley, lead physician for tuberculosis

North East London Tuberculosis Network, Homerton University Hospital, London E9 6SR

Ed Cooper, consultant paediatrician

Partnership for Child Development, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, St Mary's Campus, Imperial College, London W2 1PF

Delane Shingadia, senior lecturer in paediatrics

Queen Mary College Westfield, London E1 4NS

Alex Mellanby, consultant in communicable disease control

Health Protection Agency, London E1 1RD

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us Add to Digg

Digg

Technorati What's this?

Relevant Articles

Tuberculin testing before BCG vaccination: Effect of age on adverse effects has not been made clear: Richard J Roberts
BMJ 2003 327: 932. [Extract] [Full Text]

The positive in negatives: Kamran Abbasi
BMJ 2003 327: 0. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

Roberts, R. J (2003). Tuberculin testing before BCG vaccination: Effect of age on adverse effects has not been made clear. BMJ 327: 932-932 [Full text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

BCG reactions: Gnanam Duraisamy, et al.
bmj.com, 1 Aug 2003 [Full text]
Effect of age on adverse effects: Richard J Roberts
bmj.com, 2 Aug 2003 [Full text]
BCG vaccine needed till what age?: anju aggarwal, et al.
bmj.com, 3 Aug 2003 [Full text]
Tuberculin testing before giving BCG: John A Lunn
bmj.com, 12 Aug 2003 [Full text]
Tuberculin testing before BCG vaccination: Julian H Shelley, et al.
bmj.com, 13 Aug 2003 [Full text]
BCG as a diagnostic test for tuberculosis: David A Green
bmj.com, 15 Aug 2003 [Full text]
Tuberculin testing prior to delayed selective neonatal BCG vaccination: Peter I Macfarlane, et al.
bmj.com, 29 Aug 2003 [Full text]
Vaccination Scars: A L H MOSS
bmj.com, 30 Nov 2003 [Full text]
Tuberculin testing before BCG vaccination: John M Watson, et al.
bmj.com, 20 Aug 2004 [Full text]