Bacillus Calmette–Guérin - Uses

Uses

Tuberculosis: The main use of BCG is for vaccination against tuberculosis. BCG vaccination is recommended to be given intradermally by a nurse skilled in the technique. A previous BCG vaccination can cause a false positive Mantoux test, although a very high-grade reading is usually due to active disease.

The age of the patient and the frequency with which BCG is given has always varied from country to country.

WHO BCG policy: The WHO recommend BCG be given to all children born in countries highly endemic for TB because it protects against miliary TB and TB meningitis.
United States: The US has never used mass immunization of BCG, relying instead on the detection and treatment of latent tuberculosis.
United Kingdom: The UK introduced universal BCG immunization in 1953, and until 2005, the UK policy was to immunize all school children at the age of 13, and all neonates born into high-risk groups. The injection was only given once during an individual's lifetime (as there is no evidence of additional protection from more than one vaccination). BCG was also given to protect people who had been exposed to tuberculosis. The peak of tuberculosis incidence is in adolescence and early adulthood, and the MRC trial showed efficacy lasted only 15 years at most. Styblo and Meijer argued neonatal immunization protected against miliary TB and other noncontagious forms of TB, and not pulmonary TB which was a disease of adults, and that mass immunization campaigns with BCG would therefore not be expected to have a significant public health impact. For these and other reasons, BCG was therefore given to time with the peak incidence of pulmonary disease. Routine immunization with BCG was withdrawn in 2005 because of falling cost-effectiveness: whereas in 1953, 94 children would have to be immunized to prevent one case of TB, by 1988, the annual incidence of TB in the UK had fallen so much, 12,000 children would have to be immunized to prevent one case of TB.
India and Pakistan: India and Pakistan introduced BCG mass immunization in 1948, the first countries outside Europe to do so.
Brazil: Brazil introduced universal BCG immunization in 1967-1968, and the practice continues until now. According to Brazilian law, BCG is given again to professionals of the health sector and to people close to patients with tuberculosis or leprosy.
Norway: In Norway the BCG vaccine was mandatory from 1947 to 1995. It is still available and recommended for high-risk groups.
Other countries: In some countries, such as the former USSR, BCG was given regularly throughout life. In South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia, BCG was given at birth and again at age 12. But in Malaysia and Singapore, from 2001, this policy was changed to once only at birth, and it was discontinued in South Korea.