Did you have the BCG vaccine?

[aintnothinbutagstring]

So there's been lots of media outlets mentioning the weak link between countries that have the BCG vaccine still on their schedule and low incidence/fatality of COVID, with countries that never had BCG (Italy/US) on their schedule having high incidence and fatality. I'm not really debating that, obviously much more research is needed. The general theory being the BCG jab boosts your overall immunity, or provides a blueprint for combatting other unrelated pathogens, particularly just after its given (which they are trialling on healthcare workers in Australia).

The question was posed to Michael Mosely on Twitter and he said well everyone in UK has had BCG and we have high incidence/fatality so that link can't be right. But I wonder how many have not had it here, most under 30s won't have had it unless considered at risk, but the rest of us between 30-70 should have had it right?

Except lots of people commented on Twitter that their council cancelled BCG vaccines in the 80s, their parents didn't consent, or they were off school that day. I'm in my 30s (northwest england) and had it, and I think most of my schoolmates did, apart from a handful that were either immune (Mantoux test) or scared of needles. Did you have it, or didn't and why?

Getting it=getting tuberculosis, I should say

37 and had it but my 29 hear old sister hasn't

Year not hear

33 and i had it.

Yep, grew up in Africa and had to have it before starting school.

Mid-50s and I had it. I was left with a small lump as opposed to a scar and a tattoo artist skilfully hid it in a tattoo for me. My DDs are 29 and 25 and they didn't get it. It was discontinued as the incidence had dropped to almost zero, so it was considered no longer a threat. However, the incidence of TB is climbing again, so it may well be re-introduced at some point.

30 and had it. Must have been one of the last years for it to be done routinely.

My little boy also had it when he was born (in London).

I had it, still have the huge mark from it

The little test said I didn't need it but they gave it to me anyway. If there's any link then I'm very glad lol

I didn’t have it . I remember going for a chest X-ray at high school.
A few years ago I had a test which showed I didn’t have any immunity to tb but no further action taken

I had it as did everyone I know.

Of my children, one DC had it and the other didn’t because we were living in different boroughs for their births and one place does it within a week or two of birth and the other doesn’t do it.

The BBC has another fact-checking article on coronavirus here seems any link to the BCG vaccine is unproven.

I'm 40 and had it in yr 7 of secondary school (1991-1992) in England.

I had it twice. Once as a toddler in the Scottish highlands, because it was endemic there In the early sixties when we moved there, and again at school. I had the test but it didn’t react so I hade the vaccination again. I have twin scars on my shoulder. I remember having it as a toddler, I had a very complicated recurring nightmare about it for years as a child (which I bet I have again tonight now I’ve thought of it!). I remember the second one being very oozy, for want of a better word.

Thanks for the factcheck of the BBC. The problem most doctors have is many issues relating to Covid 19 are not clear yet. I certainly was happy to pay for the twins to have the BCG because of course it or what follows from it can stop you getting TB so for that reason alone it is worth having.

On the other issues hopefully more scientists will look into the issues - eg why the old get it worse and men and those with existing conditions and why things like being obese or having diabetes make it worse - I think the latter are pretty much facts (and we are still looking to whether not being white makes you more vulnerable or not).

Although even something like more men get very ill with it could simply because more older men carry more weight on their tummies so nothing to do with gender but about how sick they are or large.

I’m feeling rather hard done by after reading this thread.

I had the Heaf test in year 6 of primary school in 1997,
My test reacted very quickly and I have a large reaction, I was one of only three people in my year group who had a ‘positive’ test, but the other twos reaction was only minor so they still had the BCG.

I ended up having to have multiple chest X-rays, I think it was one a month for 6 months and then one every three months for a few years.
I also had to take a medication every day for 12 months, I struggled to take tablets and i remember it was really difficult to swallow and tasted horrible.

My three younger siblings all had to have the Heaf test, they all tested negative and had to have the BCG, I remember they all felt it was very unjustified and I was not popular in our house for a long time. 😂

There was no sign I ever had TB and no explanation as to why I have the antibodies.