Info on BCG Vaccine needed

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Does anyone know if there is a resource available anywhere, that might tell me what countries routinely give the BCG vaccine? I have quite a few employees come through my door, tell me they never had BCG, but find out later, after a positive PPD, and a call home to their mother, that they have in fact had it (which I'd already presumed).

If I could get my hands on a listing somewhere, it would be quite helpful, and perhaps I could avoid giving PPD's when they don't need them.

Thanks in advance!

Does anyone know if there is a resource available anywhere, that might tell me what countries routinely give the BCG vaccine? I have quite a few employees come through my door, tell me they never had BCG, but find out later, after a positive PPD, and a call home to their mother, that they have in fact had it (which I'd already presumed).

If I could get my hands on a listing somewhere, it would be quite helpful, and perhaps I could avoid giving PPD's when they don't need them.

Thanks in advance!

We place ppd on anyone who has had the bcg vac. over 5 yrs. Due to the majority of ppl losing the effect after childhood ..in other words they are not immune later in life.

easy peasy this one!! if you speak to your nice friendly Aventis rep- I think you might have such a thing! they have a little book which tells you the shedule for every country for all baby imms!!

BCG is given routinely in; long list this!

afghanistan, albania,algeria,angora, anguilla,argintina,armenia,azerbaijan,bahrain,bangladesh,barbados,belarus,

belize,benin,bhutan,boliva,bosnia&herzegovina, botswana,brazil,british virgin islands,brunei,bulgaria,burkina faso, burundi,cambodia,cameroon,cape verde,caymen islands,central africa rep, chad, chile, china,colombia,comoros, congo, cook islands, costa rica, croatia, cuba, czech republic, korea, congo, dominica, domincan rep, ecuador, egypt, el salvador, equatorial guinea, eritrea, estonia, finland, france, french guinea, french polynesia, gabon, gorgia, germany, greece, guatemala, guinea, guinea-bissau, guyana, haiti, honduras, hong kong, hungary, India, indonesia, Iran, ireland, ivory coast, Jamaica, kazakhastan, kenya, kiribati, kuwait, kyrgyzstan, lao peoples democratic rep. latvia, lesotho, liberia, libya, lithuania, luxembourg, macao,madagascar, malawi, malaysia, maldives, mali, malta, marshall islands,

mauritania, mexico, micronesia (chuck state only) monaco, mongolia, montserrat, morocco, mozambique, myanmar, namibia, nauru,nepal, new zealand,nicaragua, niue, norway, oman, pakistan,panama,papua new guinea,paraguay, peru, philippines, poland, portugal, quatar, republic of korea, rep. of moldova, romania, russian federation, rwanda, st kitts and nevis, st. lucia, st vincent and the grenadines, samoa, saudi arabia. singapore, slovakia, slovinia, solomon islands, somalia, south africa, sri lanka, sudan, swaziland, syrian arab republic, tajikastan, thialand. togo. tokelau. tonga, tunisia, turkmenistan, turks and caicos islands,tuvalu, uganda, ukraine, united arab emirates, united kingdom, united rep. of tanzania, uruguay, uzbekistan, vanuatu, venezuela, viet nam, wallis and futuna islands, west bank and gaza strip (some regions only) yemen, zambia, zimbabwe!!!

whew!! arent you impressed I could tell you that!! :rotfl: hope that helps!!!

Karen

Hi Karen

This list may not be as accurate as you hope. For instance in NZ we only vaccinate some babies (those defined most at risk) and there is no routine vaccination programme. Noone is vaccinated over five years of age. NZ has a wonderful TB Guidelines document which can be accessed on line throught the Ministry of Health Web site or goggle.

Cheers

Margaret

thailand

the hospitals here routinely give a chest x-ray every year to their staff.

even the us embassy for immigration purposes uses the cxr, at least that is what i have been told over here by my students.

suzanne, are you back in thailand?

whoops, written before page 2!

Hi all,

A Londoner here, moved to the USA in 93, I had the BCG when I was 13....have the wonderful scar to prove it (left deltoid). I had the unfortunate experience of having the ppd 1 time and the only time. My arm blistered, was over 20cm in length from the ppd site to where the red line of blisters ended ......ouch:eek: .

So now I have a yearly CXR. I have never had any problems.....:mad:

Also, BCG only has about a 20 yr "life span". One of the Respirologists here almost strokes whenever a nurse says, " I have a Mantoux reaction because I had a BCG 28 yrs ago"! It's not a reason to not be PPD'd, it's the change in the reaction that matters. I'm like one of the earlier responders on the thread.... I react to the mantoux...not to the mantoux! Won't ever have another (at least not without feeling my arm should be amputated!) so have chest x-ray if exposed.

as far as immunity sure there is variable effect but the tb test is for previous exposure and bcg will cause a positive not saying it will prevent tb but that the body had been exposed and remembers. the xray will verify weather or not it is present.

Hi all:

Interesting discussion.

I had BCG when I was 7. At 28 years old, I had to have a PPD as part of the US immigration process, and had a MAJOR reaction. The doctor insisted that I needed to take TB meds for 6 months! This despite a negative chest X-ray and the fact I'd had BCG.

Needless to say I got a second opinion. Both my family doctor and the Doc in the USA said I should never have another PPD......

Maybe it is unusual, but I am an example of a + PPD 20 years after the vaccine.

From the reading that I did it said that there are way too may variables that determine how long ikt is effective. Native americans where seen effective sixty years later bcg had been administered in the 1920's . There's also articles that refute that and say its not effective after 21. Even though myh cxr is clear im taking the antibiotic to rule out everything. Sucks really that there isn't one answer at that the opinions of its use are so varied.Im 28 by the way and was vaccinated as a baby.

Yes, it's true. Even when I did a search at the time, there seemed to be little consensus. If I took the time to do a literature search, I may find out what the best practice is now.... but that project will have to wait til I finish my latest BSN course!

My first PPD was negative 3 months ago...now that I am hired, they gave me another PPD again. So they did. Then after 3 hours from the PPD, my arm was so red and it's bigger than a dime...and it's swelling..and itched, itched, itched, itched like CRAZY!!!! I had BCG in Philippines when I was 7 years old...during the processing of my paper, the US immigration gave me CXR and it was negative.

Is it Okay to tell the RN not to give me PPD because it gives me reaction??? by the way when they gave me the PPD my arm was so weak for a week and the red color takes 3 months to disappear...:bluecry1:

Hi Cessna:

I am certainly no expert as OH is not my area. I can only tell you what I would do--that is suggest having a CXR instead, if possible.

Diana

Specializes in MICU.

I found this info on the WHO website: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/1993/WHO_EPI_GEN_93.15_mod5.pdf

Most countries (except for the United States of

America and the Netherlands) recommend the use of

BCG. The schedule differs from country to country.

WHO recommends one dose at birth or at the first

contact of the infant with the health system. Other

countries use other schedules, the differences mostly

attributable to differing interpretations of the available

data.

I believe if you contact the CDC they might be able to provide you with a list, or at least tell you who can. I am from Brazil, and we get one single dose of BCG right after birth. I believe they still give booster doses whenever there is a outbreak of tuberculosis . I have two kids that were born in Brazil, and they also received BCGs. My daughter always has positive PPDs because of that, and I had a pediatrician once that wanted to put her on INH without even asking for a X-ray...

I believe every Latin country must vaccinate people against TB and almost all Europe.

I hope this little info can help you. Good luck on your search. :)

fcosta

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