Experience with BCG Vaccination in Cordoba, Argentina

From comparative investigations carried out in vaccinated and non-vaccinated children the following conclusions have been reached:

a) The general mortality within the first year of life was 8.3 per cent among the vaccinated and 15.6 per cent among the control group;

b) A mild degree of tuberculin sensitiveness was prevalent among vaccinated in contrast to the strongly positive results of Mantoux tests sometimes found in children belonging to the control group;

c) Chest x-ray films made on the vaccinated group disclosed 57.5 per cent lesions among children exposed to tuberculosis and 18.9 per cent among noncontacts, while in the control group there were 74.3 per cent lesions among exposed children and 47.6 per cent among noncontacts. In addition, the x-ray findings of the vaccinated group proved to be less important than that evidenced in the non-vaccinated. When primary infection was observed among vaccinated children, only glandular envolvement could be detected.

For the protection of the newborn, small children, school children, and young adult non-reactors, exposed or not to tuberculosis, the BCG vaccination represents a good weapon in the prophylactic campaign against tuberculosis. However, vaccination must be employed together with the other known measures used in the control of tuberculosis.