Article Text

BCG and tuberculosis
  1. WREN HOSKYNS, Consultant Paediatrician, Leicester Royal Infirmary
  1. Aylestone Road, Leicester LE1 5WW, UK

    Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    Editor,—There is no doubt that BCG increases sensitivity to tuberculin but this cannot be taken to equate with protection against tuberculosis as is implied by a number of studies including 2 cited in the article by Bannon.1 Evidence from the large Medical Research Council (MRC) trial in the UK showed that after BCG vaccination, non-responders to a 3 tuberculin unit (TU) Mantoux test had the same degree of protection against tuberculosis as responders.2 The delayed hypersensitivity reaction should not be regarded as evidence of immunity but as evidence of infection. Distinguishing a BCG infection from tuberculosis infection may be difficult and the tuberculin test is …

    View Full Text