ArticleBMJ global health2019
BCG vaccination is associated with reduced malaria prevalence in children under the age of 5 years in sub-Saharan Africa.
Article in BMJ global health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Immune mechanisms mediating the heterologous effects of BCG vaccination: a systematic review.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Pooled it
- Malaria among under-five children in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Malaria journal · 2022Pooled it
- The influence of neonatal BCG vaccination on in vitro cytokine responses to Plasmodium falciparum.BMC immunology · 2024Trial
- The case for exploring innate memory in Plasmodium infection.Current opinion in microbiology · 2026Review
- Interleukin-38 is a negative regulator of trained immunity-A retrospective multi-omics study.iScience · 2025Article
- BCG vaccination: historical role, modern applications, and future perspectives in tuberculosis and beyond.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Review
- Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells confer cross-protective trained immunity in mouse models.iScience · 2023Article
- Designing Anti-Viral Vaccines that Harness Intrastructural Help from Prior BCG Vaccination.Journal of cellular immunology · 2023Article
- Beneficial non-specific effects of live vaccines against COVID-19 and other unrelated infections.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2023Review
- Malaria and tuberculosis co-infection-a review.Oxford open immunology · 2023Review
- Continuum of care for maternal, newborn, and child health in 17 sub-Saharan African countries.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- A place for neutrophils in the beneficial pathogen-agnostic effects of the BCG vaccine.Vaccine · 2022Article
- Individual and Contextual Factors Associated with Malaria among Children 6-59 Months in Nigeria: A Multilevel Mixed Effect Logistic Model Approach.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Background to new treatments for COVID-19, including its chronicity, through altering elements of the cytokine storm.Reviews in medical virology · 2021Review
- Old vaccines for new infections: Exploiting innate immunity to control COVID-19 and prevent future pandemics.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- Article
- A Scoping Review of Selected Studies on Predictor Variables Associated with the Malaria Status among Children under Five Years in Sub-Saharan Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Trained Immunity Confers Prolonged Protection From Listeriosis.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Article
- Prevalence and Associated Factors of Chronic Kidney Disease among Adult Hypertensive Patients at Northwest Amhara Referral Hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020.International journal of hypertension · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionMalaria continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) without effective interventions. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine possesses protective non-specific effects, which extend beyond protection against tuberculosis. This study explores whether BCG is associated with protection against malaria in children under the age of 5 years in SSA.
methodsWe used data from the Demographic Health Survey programme, including 34 206 children from 13 SSA countries. BCG status was taken from vaccination cards when present; if not, mother's recall was used. Presence of malaria was defined as a positive rapid diagnostic test. Maternally reported presence or absence of fever in the previous 2 weeks defined symptomatic status. Multilevel logistic regression was used to account for the two-stage cluster sampling method.
resultsOf the 34 206 children, 12 325 (36.0%) children were malaria positive and 29 766 (87.0%) were BCG vaccinated. After correction for relevant child, maternal and household factors, BCG vaccination was associated with a lower malaria prevalence (adjusted OR (aOR)=0.94, 95% CI 0.90 to 0.98), especially among children of whom BCG information was retrieved from a vaccination card (aOR
conclusionsBCG vaccination is associated with protection against malaria. This protection is highest in regions with suboptimal BCG coverage. These results indicate a possible role for timely BCG vaccination in the protection of malaria and its elimination by reducing the transmission reservoir. If confirmed in further research, our findings have substantial implications for global efforts to reduce malaria burden.
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