BCG test reactions were studied in 1095 non-tuberculous children from 6 months to 5 years of age, who had received BCG vaccination in the newborn period, in order to find out the diagnostic value of the BCG test in previously BCG vaccinated children. Previous BCG vaccination has an effect on the BCG test reaction in the form of an accelerated BCG reaction. Although the degree of reaction decreases with time, 51.4% of children still showed a strongly accelerated BCG reaction 4 1/2-5 years after BCG vaccination. It is concluded that the BCG test cannot be used as a diagnostic test for tuberculosis in children under 5 years of age who have had previous BCG vaccination.

A case-control study was carried out on 311 tuberculous children under 5 years of age and 1536 non-tuberculous controls, matched for age, sex and the sector of residence, to evaluate the effectiveness of BCG vaccination of newborns in Rangoon, Burma. BCG vaccination status of both the cases and their matched controls was recorded. BCG vaccination in the newborn conferred 38% protection against the sum total of all forms of tuberculosis. The protective efficacy varied with the different forms of tuberculosis. It was only 20% for primary complex and 52% and 80% for tuberculous meningitis and disseminated tuberculosis, respectively. The protective effect of BCG vaccination was highest during the first 3 years after vaccination and then waned during the subsequent years. Although the protective efficacy seemed to be low, the impact of a BCG vaccination programme on the preventable deaths, neurological sequelae and the health services expenses is considerable.

Background Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) sequence variants in patients from Myanmar have not yet been reported. Objectives To describe the molecular epidemiology of EGFR variants in patients from Myanmar with lung adenocarcinoma. Methods Histological diagnosis and categorization of biopsies collected from 66 patients (28–78 years) with lung cancer was conducted using a panel of antibodies including those to: TTF1, P40, synaptophysin, CK7, and napsin-A. Samples from patients with confirmed adenocarcinoma were tested for EGFR variants using a cobas EGFR Mutation Test kit and cobas z 480 System (Roche). We conducted a univariate analysis of categorical factors using a χ2 or Fisher exact test. Results Histological types were adenocarcinoma (61%, 40/66), squamous cell carcinoma (24%, 16/66), neuroendocrine carcinoma (9%, 6/66), undifferentiated carcinoma (2%, 1/66), adenosquamous carcinoma (2%, 1/66), small cell anaplastic carcinoma (2%, 1/66), and pleomorphic sarcoma (2%, 1/66). EGFR variants were detected in 15 of 40 (38%) cases of adenocarcinoma. Among them, 6 patients (40%) had an exon 19 deletion, another 6 (40%) had exon 21 substitutions, 1 (7%) had exon 20 insertion S768I, and 2 (13%) had compound variations (1 of exon 21 L858R and exon 18 G719X, and 1 of exon 20 S768I and exon 18 G719X). Although limited by small sample size, no significant association was found between the variants and factors including family cancer history, age group, sex, ethnicity, or occupation. However, there was a strong significant association between never-smokers and EGFR variants (P = 0.008). Conclusion Knowledge of EGFR variants in patients from Myanmar is encouraging for their effective cancer treatment.

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