SATVI researchers amongst the top UCT researchers studying BCG: 1989 - 2021

The University of Cape Town is leading international research into the only licensed TB vaccine, Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), according to a new study.

A new paper published in the Journal of Hospital Librarianship by authors Khan & Yuvaraj (2022) presents an analysis of the pattern of growth of research output, authorship and institutions involved in research of the only licensed TB vaccine, Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG). 

The findings show that among global institutions, the University of Cape Town (UCT) leads BCG research output with a total of 270 papers published between 1989 and 2021, the period under investigation. Three scholars based at UCT, Mark Hatherill, Tom Scriba and Michele Tameris, who are researchers at the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI), are also amongst the top twenty most productive authors, while two former SATVI researchers, Willem Hanekom and Hassan Mahomed, are also amongst this group.

Professor Mark Hatherill	Associate Professor Michele Tameris	Professor Tom Scriba
Professor Hassan Mahomed	Professor Willem Hanekom

The BCG vaccine is the only licenced TB vaccine for the prevention of TB. It has been in use for more than 100 years and has been given to an estimated four billion people across the world. BCG has limited and variable efficacy against lung TB in adolescents and adults but provides consistent protection against disseminated and severe forms of TB in young children. As such, BCG remains a key prevention measure against childhood TB globally and in South Africa. One avenue of current research is addressing whether BCG can be used to prevent infection with the TB bacillus at older ages, such as during adolescence and early adulthood, and what types of immune responses underlie vaccine protection against TB.