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The BCG vaccination is the accepted abbreviation for the Bacillus Calmette-Gurin vaccination used to treat Tuberculosis (TB). TB is an extremely common and very often fatal disease that is caused by myobacteria, more specifically myobacterium tuberculosis which is the most common myobacteria strain that causes TB. Of all the forms of Tuberculosis, pulmonary tuberculosis is the most common. This gives rise to the typical characteristics of TB, including chronic cough, bloody sputum, fever, weight loss etc. TB is very prevalent because it is an extremely contagious disease and spreads through the air. The difficulty with TB also is that there could be a time lag between getting infected with TB and it developing into the full blown disease. According to reports from the World Health Organization, nearly 8 million people get infected with TB every year and about 2 million die due to it. Tuberculosis has an extremely high rate of incidence in developing countries like those in the African continent, and the Indian subcontinent. However incidence of TB is increasing even in developed countries like the US due to increasing numbers of people with AIDS. TB can be treated with the help of antibiotics but the duration of treatment
is long and takes between 6 to 12 months for the body to be myobacterium free. A more preventive measure to control TB is the use of the BCG vaccination. The first BCG vaccination was administered in 1921.However it wasn't until after the Second World War that public acceptance happened and along with it commercial marketing of the BCG vaccination. The BCG vaccination is made using attenuated live bovine tuberculosis bacillus. The strain of bacillus is cultured for years in a medium due to which it becomes less virulent and can be used in a BCG vaccination. BCG vaccination is routinely used by almost all countries. However in the US, the BCG vaccination is not a routine vaccine given to children or adults since it is considered to be a relatively rare occurrence there. However, even in the US, BCG vaccination is recommended for children who maybe routinely exposed to TB and can't be treated for latent TB, or who test negative on the tuberculin skin test. The BCG vaccination is also recommended for healthcare workers who are at risk for exposure to the myobacterium. However, the BCG vaccination should not be given to pregnant women because the effects on the fetus are not known yet. It should also not be given to people who's immune systems are suppressed for example those with HIV. The BCG vaccination has been found to be more successful with tuberculous meningitis and not as successful with pulmonary TB. Nevertheless, the BCG vaccination has been found to be an extremely safe vaccine and is used around the world in a fight against TB. Childhood Vaccination
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