Geneva (Vax-Before-Travel News)After decades of consistent decline in TB cases, rates began increasing in 2021. Access to TB vaccines should not be an issue, with about 15 versions of the 100-year-old Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine available globally. Over 4 billion BCG vaccinations have been completed worldwide since 1921. In the United States, the U.S. FDA authorizes […]
Geneva (Vax-Before-Travel News)After decades of consistent decline in TB cases, rates began increasing in 2021. Access to TB vaccines should not be an issue, with about 15 versions of the 100-year-old Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine available globally. Over 4 billion BCG vaccinations have been completed worldwide since 1921.
In the United States, the U.S. FDA authorizes two BCG vaccines for specific health conditions.
Previously, the U.S. CDC reported similar unfortunate data regarding TB outbreaks.
These findings of increased TB among children show that transmission of TB in the European Region is still ongoing, and immediate public health measures are needed, wrote the ECDC.
Over the past five years, healthcare resources have been concentrated on a novel disease. Meanwhile, the leading historical cause of respiratory disease has spread significantly worldwide, affecting millions of unvaccinated children, including those in the United States.
Furthermore, a significant concern is that for about 20% of children with TB in the EU/EEA, it is unknown whether their treatment has been completed, which indicates they may be spreading this disease.
“Ending TB is not a dream. It’s a choice. Sadly, the current TB burden and the worrying rise in children with TB serve as a reminder that progress against this preventable and curable disease remains fragile,” commented Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, in a media release.
In 2024, 10,347 TB cases were provisionally reported by thirty-four states and the District of Columbia.
The 2025 “Tuberculosis Surveillance and Monitoring in Europe” report, released on March 24, 2025, by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and WHO/Europe, shows that children under 15 years of age accounted for 4.3% of those with new and relapsed tuberculosis (TB) cases in the WHO European Region.
According to the ECDC, WHO, and the CDC, tuberculosis is a vaccine-preventable disease.
As of March 13, 2025, the Serum Institute of India and ImmunityBio’s recombinant BCG vaccine became available in the U.S. for bladder cancer therapies.
However, these TB vaccines are not commercially available at pharmacies in the U.S.
This data represents a worrying 10% surge in pediatric TB cases for 2023.
While BCG has demonstrated significant effectiveness (50%), protection against all TB forms in all age groups has not been consistent.
As of March 2025, no universal BCG vaccination policy has been published by the WHO.
The percentages of TB case counts (8%) and rates (6%) increased from 2023 to 2024.
