[Comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of vaccination of newborn infants with BCG and BCG-M vaccines].

A comparative effectiveness of the newborn BCG- and BCG-M vaccination was analysed as to the indices of primary infection, morbidity and its structure. The rate of postvaccination complications in 1,645,360 children, aged under 3 years, and living in the areas with different epidemiological situations for tuberculosis was studied too. 2,142,292 and 799486 healthy newborns were BCG- and BCG-M-vaccinated, respectively. The studies were carried out in Moscow, Kiev, Vilnius++ and Tashkent. The obtained results indicate that the number of complications in the form of regional lymphadenitis induced by BCG-M vaccine is 5 times less frequent than those caused by BCG. Under favourable epidemiological conditions, the primary infection and morbidity are alike, while under unfavourable ones the former is higher, particularly in infants in their first year as compared to the BCG-vaccinated. On the basis of the available data BCG-M can be recommended for the vaccination of all the newborns living in the areas with a favourable epidemiological situation for tuberculosis, thus increasing the newborn vaccination coverage and bringing the morbidity down.