Assessment of BCG vaccine immune response in a sample of Egyptian infants

INTRODUCTION Tuberculosis (TB) is considered to be responsible for 2 million deaths every year despite being a treatable airborne infectious disease. Due to its infectious nature, chronic progression and long treatment, TB is a great burden for society. Moreover, the emergence of multi-drug resistant TB and the currently associated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) worldwide epidemic has led to even greater concern. Treating and preventing TB have become a permanent challenge since the ancient times. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the only vaccine available today in practice and has been used for more than 90 years with wide safety range records. However, its efficacy remains controversial. In Egypt, TB is addressed and handled as a health problem affecting large sectors in the society, especially the poor and the vulnerable. In 2013, prevalence rate of TB was 27 per 100,000 populations. BCG vaccination became compulsory in all governorates of Egypt since 1974. The main strains of BCG vaccine currently used in Egypt are the Indian strains (Serum Institute of India) and Denmark strains (Staten Serum Institute). According to the CDC reports for BCG vaccination, the presence of post vaccination scar or size of a tuberculin skin-test reaction does not predict whether BCG will provide any protection against TB disease. Furthermore, the size of a tuberculin skin-test reaction in a BCG-vaccinated person is not a factor in determining whether the reaction is caused by previous BCG vaccination or Original article