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Can BCG Vaccination at First Health-facility Contact Reduce Early Infant Mortality? A Cluster Randomised Trial (CS-BCG)
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination is recommended at birth to protect against tuberculosis (TB) in countries with high TB burden. BCG is supplied in multidose vials with limited durability after reconstitution. In Guinea-Bissau, this has led to a practice of only opening a BCG vial at specific days, and only if sufficient children are present. Therefore, BCG vaccination is frequently delayed. Accumulating evidence indicates that BCG has beneficial effects on survival beyond the specific protection against tuberculosis, so called non-specific effects (NSEs). The hypothesis of this study is that increasing the availability of BCG and vaccinating children at the first health-facility contact can reduce early infant non-accidental mortality by 25%. In a cluster-randomised crossover trial, 23 health facilities (HFs) in three rural regions in Guinea-Bissau will be randomised to either continue with current practice (typically BCG vaccination once a week if a sufficient number of children are present for vaccination); or to offer additional BCG vaccines to make BCG available every day and open a vial of BCG if there is just one eligible child present. All children born in the three regions and registered during the study period, will be eligible for inclusion into the trial 1 day after birth. If consent is given by the mother, the child will be followed until day 42 after birth, when other vaccines are scheduled to be given. The primary outcome will be non-accidental mortality, secondary outcomes are non-accidental hospital admissions, non-accidental neonatal mortality and cost-effectiveness of making BCG available at the first health-facility contact.
Details
| Lead sponsor | Bandim Health Project |
|---|---|
| Phase | Phase 4 |
| Status | ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING |
| Enrolment | 22800 |
| Start date | 2021-02-25 |
| Completion | 2026-07 |
Conditions
- Infant Mortality
- BCG
Interventions
- BCG vaccination at first health facility contact
Primary outcomes
- Odds ratio of non-accidental early infant mortality — From 1 day after birth to 42 days after birth
The primary analysis of early infant non-accidental mortality will be assessed in an intention-to-treat (TT) analysis. Logistic regression models with generalised estimating equation (GEE) correction for village cluster will be used. Furthermore, an assessment of whether the effect of the intervention on the primary outcome is modified by the following potential effect modifiers, will be carried out: Sex, maternal BCG scar (yes/no), season of birth (dry/rainy), strain of BCG.
Countries
Guinea-Bissau