Frequency of absent BCG Scar in Babies Vaccinated with BCG

Abstract

Objective; In a TB endemic country find the frequency and associations of absent BCG scar in babies vaccinated with BCG.
 Study Design; Interventional prospective cohort study.
 Palace and Duration of Study; Immunization centre at Paediatric department of Fauji Foundation Hospital, Lahore from Mar 2021 to Aug 2021
 Methodology; Infants with age ranging from 1day-1month, born at term with no antenatal, natal or post natal complications were selected by non-purposive convenient sampling and vaccinated by a single vaccinator using only one strain of BCG. Presence or absence of BCG scar was checked on their following visits for vaccinations at 6, 10 and 14 weeks of age and evaluated against different variables.
 Result; 540 infants were included in this study. 384 had a complete follow-up, of which 35(9.1%) did not develop a scar after vaccination. This absence of scar was evaluated against gender , birth weight , day of vaccination, type of feed and socio economic status and there was no statistically significant association as p-value was >0.05
 Conclusion; Probability of developing a BCG scar is independent of gender , birth weight , day of vaccination , type of feed and socioeconomic status. We suggest that babies who do not develop a scar should be revaccinated if they show poor response to TST after 6 months of ageas it can give rise to cross-protection against micro-organisms that might be unrelated totarget disease.