ArticleThe Journal of allergy and clinical immunology2014
BCG vaccination in patients with severe combined immunodeficiency: complications, risks, and vaccination policies.
Article in The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 124 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
124 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 256 citations in OpenAlex.
- Incidence, risk factors and outcomes of BCGosis following BCG vaccination in infants: a systematic review and meta-analyses.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Pooled it
- Vaccinations in paediatric rheumatology: an update on current developments.Current rheumatology reports · 2015Pooled it
- Trial
- Evolution of Inborn Errors of Immunity in China: Discoveries and Treatment Paradigms.Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology · 2026Review
- BCG arthritis in a patient with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disorder (SCID): a case report.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- The Experience of a Tertiary Reference Center in Central Anatolia with Children Carrying ZAP-70 Variants, Including Two Novel Variants.Journal of clinical immunology · 2026Article
- Clinical Significance of IKBKB Mutations:Saudi medical journal · 2026Review
- Rethinking Neonatal Vaccination Policies: A Neuroimmune Perspective.Iranian journal of medical sciences · 2026Review
- BCG-Related Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome and Delayed Donor Chimerism After Allogeneic HSCT in TCase reports in immunology · 2026Article
- Review
- Tuberculosis screening in adult patients with inborn errors of immunity: a single-center cohort study.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency due toFrontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Case report: Maternal engraftment of T-cells in a patient with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency due toFrontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Analysis of three cases of disseminated BCG infection in infants after BCG vaccination in Beijing, China.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2025Article
- Fatal Breakthrough Invasive Fungal Infection due toInfectious diseases & clinical microbiology · 2025Article
- BCGitis and BCGosis: Clinical Spectrum, Immunological Mechanisms, and Risk Management.Vaccines · 2025Review
- Clinical features, genotypes, and geographic distribution of 238 Latin American CGD patients.Journal of human immunity · 2025Article
- Severe combined immunodeficiency with BCG-osis by salvage therapy with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: cases report and literature review.BMC pediatrics · 2025Review
- Current status of BCG and OPV vaccination in children with primary immunodeficiency in Chongqing, China.Medicine · 2025Observational
- Parents' perspectives of the new neonatal BCG vaccination pathway in England: a qualitative study.BMC public health · 2025Article
64 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
57 authors at 20 institutions in 17 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSevere combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is a syndrome characterized by profound T-cell deficiency. BCG vaccine is contraindicated in patients with SCID. Because most countries encourage BCG vaccination at birth, a high percentage of patients with SCID are vaccinated before their immune defect is detected.
objectivesWe sought to describe the complications and risks associated with BCG vaccination in patients with SCID.
methodsAn extensive standardized questionnaire evaluating complications, therapeutics, and outcomes regarding BCG vaccination in patients given a diagnosis of SCID was widely distributed. Summary statistics and association analysis was performed.
resultsData on 349 BCG-vaccinated patients with SCID from 28 centers in 17 countries were analyzed. Fifty-one percent of the patients had BCG-associated complications, 34% disseminated and 17% localized (a 33,000- and 400-fold increase, respectively, over the general population). Patients receiving early vaccination (≤1 month) showed an increased prevalence of complications (P = .006) and death caused by BCG-associated complications (P < .0001). The odds of experiencing complications among patients with T-cell numbers of 250/μL or less at diagnosis was 2.1 times higher (95% CI, 1.4-3.4 times higher; P = .001) than among those with T-cell numbers of greater than 250/μL. BCG-associated complications were reported in 2 of 78 patients who received antimycobacterial therapy while asymptomatic, and no deaths caused by BCG-associated complications occurred in this group. In contrast, 46 BCG-associated deaths were reported among 160 patients treated with antimycobacterial therapy for a symptomatic BCG infection (P < .0001).
conclusionsBCG vaccine has a very high rate of complications in patients with SCID, which increase morbidity and mortality rates. Until safer and more efficient antituberculosis vaccines become available, delay in BCG vaccination should be considered to protect highly vulnerable populations from preventable complications.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.