Five years' experience with a vaccine prepared from Mycobacterium tuberculosis var. muris

Abstract

A report is given on five years' experience in Czechoslovakia with the anti-tuberculous M-vaccine prepared from an attenuated murine type of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MP-strain) adapted by deep culture in a simple synthetic medium. During the period 1950–1954 a total of 60,866 babies, children and adults were inoculated in Prague and rural districts with promising results. Three cases of tuberculous infection were reported in Prague during 1950–1954 amongst 32,772 people vaccinated. During the same period 76,631 persons were inoculated with BCG vaccine and 13 cases of tuberculosis occurred amongst them. There were 23 cases of regional lymphadenitis with abscess or sinus formation following 32,772 inoculations. All of them healed within two to three months with an excellent cosmetic result. Lupus vulgaris at the site of inoculation with M-vaccine was not observed in a single case.