Effectiveness of the primary Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine against the risk of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and tuberculosis disease: a meta-analysis of individual participant data.

Background: Tuberculosis vaccine trials using disease as the primary endpoint are large, time consuming, and expensive. An earlier immunological measure of the protection against disease would accelerate tuberculosis vaccine development. We aimed to assess whether the effectiveness of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine for prevention of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection was consistent with that for prevention of tuberculosis disease.

Seasonality of Pneumococcal Nasopharyngeal Carriage in Rural Gambia Determined within the Context of a Cluster Randomized Pneumococcal Vaccine Trial.

Background: We conducted an ancillary study among individuals who had participated in a PCV-7 trial in rural Gambia, to determine the influence of season on the prevalence of pneumococcal carriage.

Methods: 636 individuals above 30 months of age were followed from 4 to 20 months after vaccination with PCV-7 or meningococcal-conjugate-vaccine. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected periodically between November 2006 and June 2008.