Remarks

Tuberculosis: percentage of infants reaching their first birthday in the given calendar year who have been fully vaccinated against tuberculosis (BCG, 1 dose). Data are reported annually to, and available from, the CD unit at WHO-Europe.

Not all EU-27 countries implement universal BCG vaccination of newborns. Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia implement universal BCG vaccination of newborns (at birth or <12 months). Malta, France, Norway, United Kingdom and Greece implement BCG vaccination for children in older age groups. Sweden, Netherlands, Slovenia, Switzerland, Cyprus and Italy implement BCG vaccination only for certain risk groups (such as children born in or originating from countries with high prevalence). Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain do not systematically use BCG vaccination (Infuso et al., 2006; WHO Vaccine Preventable Diseases Monitoring System, 2007).