[The bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccine may reduce the general child morbidity]

For almost 100 years the bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine has been the primary prophylaxis of tuberculosis (TB). Recent studies suggest that reintroduction of the vaccine might be beneficial from a general child health perspective. Studies from West-Africa report that BCG vaccination at birth reduces child mortality and morbidity. We recently started "The Calmette Study" in Denmark to conduct a randomised clinical trial and collect firm evidence of the suggested hypothesis, that BCG vaccination at birth has beneficial unspecific effect on child health also in a high-income TB low-incidence country.