Table 1.

BCG and new vaccines against tuberculosis: alternative facts.

1. The efficacy of BCG is 50%

2. The duration of BCG efficacy is 10–15 years

3. BCG prevents disseminated tuberculosis and tuberculous meningitis but not pulmonary tuberculosis

4. BCG is ineffective in southern latitudes due to high background rates of infection with non-tuberculous mycobacteria

5. Live BCG is the only vaccine against tuberculosis to have shown efficacy in humans

6. New vaccines against tuberculosis should be based exclusively on antigens from Mycobacterium tuberculosis