The Bacillus Calmette-Guerin, or BCG vaccine, successfully prevents tuberculous meningitis--a serious complication of tuberculosis often fatal in children--a new School of Medicine study indicates.
Collaborating with scientists in India, Desmond K. Runyan, professor of social medicine and pediatrics, found the BCG vaccine was 77 percent effective in controlling the illness. The study was conducted in India on children age 12 or younger who had new cases of tuberculous meningitis.
"Although BCG may not prevent pulmonary tuberculosis, it does help immunize children against tuberculous meningitis," Runyan said. "It is an important immunization in Africa, India and other developing countries where the rate of this disease is high."
A report on the research appeared in the February issue of Archives of Diseases in Children.
"In India, less than 50 percent of children get the BCG vaccine," Runyan said. "In areas with high rates of tuberculous meningitis, continued use of BCG may be warranted to prevent this disease."
However, the vaccine is not given routinely in the United States, where the rate of tuberculous meningitis is low.
"The BCG vaccine may become an important immunization in the U.S. if the rates of the disease increase," Runyan said.
Besides Runyan, researchers are N. Thilothammal and K. Banu, both affiliated with the Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Madras, India; and P.V. Krishnamurthy of the Tuberculosis Research Center, also in Madras.
To the UNC Home Page