BCG Vaccinations, CY P06 24 07

BCG vaccination protects against the disease tuberculosis. In Bradford, this is offered to babies/infants if one or more of the following are true:
• they have a parent or grandparent born in a country where there is a higher risk of getting TB
• they’ll be going to live or stay in a country where there is a higher risk of getting TB
• they have been living with, or in regular close contact with, someone who has or had TB
Prior to September 2021 this vaccination was given in hospital before a baby was taken home after birth. Since September 2021, it is given at around 28-days of life at a hospital outpatient clinic appointment.
There are concerns that moving the timing of vaccination in this way might have led to fewer children receiving it. People also worry that this might have increased increased inequalities in access, because some families are more likely to find it difficult to come back to the outpatient clinic than others. This is a potentially major health and wellbeing concern because tuberculosis can cause illness, hospitalisation, and death through child- and adulthood.
This study will:
1/ count the total numbers of vaccinations given over time
2/ estimate the rate of uptake amongst those who are eligible, over time
3/ examine inequalities in uptake in different groups of the population
The aim of doing this is to understand ways in which BCG coverage has changed, and whether there is a potential for improving health and wellbeing improvements relating to tuberculosis in due course.

09/10/2023

2 years