Volunteers needed for tuberculosis vaccine research study

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine are recruiting adult volunteers for a research study evaluating whether the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine can prevent tuberculosis (TB) infection in an “at-risk” traveler population exposed to TB in countries with a high-burden of the disease.

The BCG vaccine is widely used to prevent tuberculosis around the world, except in the U.S. and Western Europe where TB infection is not common. The purpose of this research is to find out if a single dose of pre-travel vaccination with BCG can lessen TB infection.

Participants must be between the ages of 18 and 65 years old, in good health, and HIV negative. Eligible participants should not have received the BCG vaccine previously and should be planning to travel outside of the U.S. to a country with a high rate of TB for at least 4 weeks – 2.5 years. Participation will require 4-6 in person visits at Baylor’s Vaccine Research Center, a general health screening, and up to four blood draws. Participants will be asked to keep a 14-day study diary and complete questionnaires. Each participant will receive either the BCG vaccine or a placebo. Participants will be compensated for their time.

For more information or to participate, call 713-798-4912 or email VRC-TBVAX@bcm.edu.