Bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccine-related disease in HIV-infected children: A systematic review

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics and risk of bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine related disease in human immunodefi ciency virus (HIV) infected infants. METHODS: Systematic literature review of articles published from 1950 to April 2009 in the English language. We identifi ed all microbiologically confi rmed cases of disseminated BCG disease in vertically HIV-infected children reported in the literature. RESULTS: Sixteen observational studies and 11 case reports/series were included. Observational studies suffered from high rates of loss to follow-up and death. Loco-regional BCG disease was reported in both HIVinfected and non-infected children. Disseminated BCG disease was repo..