BCG vaccination and pediatric HIV infection--Rwanda, 1988-1990.

In Africa, tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most common severe diseases associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. For infants in Rwanda and other countries where the risk for TB infection is high, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends vaccination against TB at birth with bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine (1). This report summarizes a study of the occurrence of immune responses and adverse reactions following BCG vaccination among a cohort of infants born to HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative mothers in Kigali, Rwanda, where the prevalence of HIV infection among women of childbearing age is approximately 30% (2).