Trial reportThe Journal of infectious diseases2015
Heterologous immunological effects of early BCG vaccination in low-birth-weight infants in Guinea-Bissau: a randomized-controlled trial.
Trial report in The Journal of infectious diseases, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04362124 (Performance Evaluation of BCG Vaccination in Healthcare Personnel to Reduce the Severity of SARS-COV-2 Infection in Medellín, Colombia, 2020), which is not on this map. Cited by 115 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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.
Performance Evaluation of BCG Vaccination in Healthcare Personnel to Reduce the Severity of SARS-COV-2 Infection in Medellín, Colombia, 2020
Who cites it
115 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 191 citations in OpenAlex.
- Immune mechanisms mediating the heterologous effects of BCG vaccination: a systematic review.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Pooled it
- Trained innate immunity.Immunologic research · 2021Pooled it
- Safety and Immunogenicity of Early Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Vaccination in Infants Who Are Preterm and/or Have Low Birth Weights: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA pediatrics · 2019Pooled it
- BCG-induced non-specific effects on heterologous infectious disease in Ugandan neonates: an investigator-blind randomised controlled trial.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2021Trial
- Differential effects of BCG vaccine on immune responses induced by vi polysaccharide typhoid fever vaccination: an explorative randomized trial.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2020Trial
- Seasonal variation in the non-specific effects of BCG vaccination on neonatal mortality: three randomised controlled trials in Guinea-Bissau.BMJ global health · 2020Trial
- Neonatal BCG Vaccination Influences Cytokine Responses to Toll-like Receptor Ligands and Heterologous Antigens.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2018Trial
- Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination at birth and in vitro cytokine responses to non-specific stimulation. A randomized clinical trial.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2018Trial
- Early BCG-Denmark and Neonatal Mortality Among Infants Weighing <2500 g: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2017Trial
- Nonspecific Effects of Oral Polio Vaccine on Diarrheal Burden and Etiology Among Bangladeshi Infants.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2017Trial
- BCG vaccination induces HIV target cell activation in HIV-exposed infants in a randomized trial.JCI insight · 2017Trial
- BCG vaccination at birth and early childhood hospitalisation: a randomised clinical multicentre trial.Archives of disease in childhood · 2017Trial
- Nonspecific effect of BCG vaccination at birth on early childhood infections: a randomized, clinical multicenter trial.Pediatric research · 2016Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Immune System Development-Pro Tips for Paediatricians.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2026Review
- Trained immunity modulators: A new frontier in immunoregulation and disease intervention.Journal of advanced research · 2026Review
- Trained Immunity Induced by Vaccines: A Shifting Paradigm for Infant and Adult Immunity.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Knowledge gaps and research priorities to understand sex differences in immunity.PLoS biology · 2026Review
- Pediatric Tuberculosis: Unraveling Immunity, Clinical Complexities, and Resource-Driven Disparities in the Pursuit of Prevention.Vaccines · 2026Review
55 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) seems to have beneficial nonspecific effects; early BCG vaccination of low-birth-weight (LBW) newborns reduces neonatal mortality by >40% due to prevention of primarily septicemia and pneumonia.
methodsWithin a randomized trial in LBW infants in Guinea-Bissau of early BCG vs the usual postponed BCG, a subgroup was bled 4 weeks after randomization. Levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, interferon (IFN)-γ and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α were measured from whole-blood assays stimulated with innate agonists to Toll-like receptor (TLR)-2, -4 or -7/8, or purified protein derivative (PPD).
resultsAmong 467 infants, BCG significantly increased the in vitro cytokine responses to purified protein derivative of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (PPD), as expected. BCG was also associated with increased responses to heterologous innate stimulation, particularly of the cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ.
conclusionFour weeks after immunization, BCG-vaccinated infants have a significantly increased production of cytokines upon heterologous challenge, particularly T helper cell type 1 polarizing and typically monocyte-derived pro-inflammatory cytokines. BCG may accelerate the development of the neonatal immune system, mediating comprehensive protection against infections and mortality.
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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.