Does Early Childhood BCG Vaccination Improve Survival to Midlife in a Population With a Low Tuberculosis Prevalence? Quasi-experimental Evidence on Nonspecific Effects From 32 Swedish Birth Cohorts

The Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine for tuberculosis (TB) is widely used globally. Many high-income countries discontinued nationwide vaccination policies starting in the 1980s as the TB prevalence decreased. However, there is continued scientific interest in whether the general childhood immunity boost conferred by the BCG vaccination impacts adult health and mortality in low-TB contexts (known as nonspecific effects). While recent studies have found evidence of an association …