Does everyone all have latent TB after getting BCG vaccination?

Nurses Safety

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Earlier on, I searched BCG vaccination and it is said that it is prepared from a strain of the attenuated (weakened) live bovine tuberculosis bacillus. I asked my parents and they said I had a BCG vaccination when I was a baby(couldn't remember how old I was).

As mentioned above, is it true that after getting a BCG vaccination, you have latent TB in you?

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

No it's not true that you have latent TB as a result of having the BCG vaccine. Instead you may have antibodies as a result of the vaccination. It's a common myth that everyone who had a BCG vaccine has latent TB because it's common to have a positive reaction to the TB skin test. (Though not everyone who had a BCG vaccine will have positive PPD reactions)

Read this from the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/tb/topic/testing/default.htm

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'prepared from a strain of the attenuated (weakened) live bovine tuberculosis bacillus' - isn't that TB?

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Same stuff is in MMR varicella and other vaccines that does not mean you have latent measles, tetorifice or varicella. Vaccines are designed to help the body to create antibodies by introducing a weakened form of the bacteria or virus. One is not infected (generally speaking) as a result of vaccination.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

As per the Terms of Service we cannot give medical advice. These are questions that need to be answered by your PCP or the CDC....thread closed....

CDC | TB | Fact Sheets - BCG Vaccine

CDC | TB | Vaccine and Immunizations

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