USMLE Forum - Largest USMLE Community

Bcg is a live attenuated vaccine which protects against disseminated TB but not against pulmonary TB..
Can u tell me why??
I cant figure it out.

because BCG bacteria fail to induce the complete immune response required for the control of TB.

thanx luckyalways.. thats what i found at all places i looked fr an explanation.
i thought there would be some detailed mechanism fr it.
)
Guess that needs more research.

Well for reasons unknown, several studies done to see BCG efficacy found out this disparity.

Check out the meta-analysis : Colditz GA, Brewer TF, Berkey CS, Wilson ME, Burdick E, Fineberg HV, et al. Efficacy of BCG vaccine in the prevention of tuberculosis. Meta-analysis of the published literature. JAMA 1994;271:698-702.

"The overall protective effect was 50% against TB infections. The BCG vaccine protected against pulmonary TB as well as against disseminated TB (78% protective effect), tuberculous meningitis (64% protective effect), and death (71% protective effect)"

hi adrenaline
i guess there's a lot of ambiguity abt bcg vaccine everywhere. all studies have yielded protection ranging from 0% to 80%. I guess we r yet to discover the final word on bcg after all these years

Hey adrenaline, did u find a cure fr ur forum addiction?? LOL

I am addicted too....help!!