Does anyone know anything about the B.C.G. vaccination being recalled?

[melaniespeaking]

Yesterday, I took dd (1o weeks) to get her b.c.g. vaccination only to be told that it had been recalled as it wasn't strong enough? (I live in Haringey, London).

Does anyone know anything about this?
Also I had been advised to get it done before 12 weeks, as it was then a more complicated procedure, again, does anyone know what that means.

My son (15 years old) had to wait until this year because it was recalled , until production started again, but that was last year when it was recalled.

My daughter ( 16yrs) had it done again this year. She had it done at school about 4 years ago, but she was having all her jabs for Peru when I casually mentionned that she had no scar or mark from her BCG and she needed immunity for Peru, so she had to have a heaf test again and go back a week later to check the puncture site to see if she was immune, and it didn't react so had to have another BCG.

I don't know about a more complicated procedure than that. It seemed fairly simple to me and there were lots of babies having it done at the same time. I asked why our children were not done so young, I was told that babies only need to have it done if they are of African/asian descent or live in a high risk area (Bedford is one, my sisters boy was given it routinely at birth there) but it is not normally given until the teens.
The local hospital does it at the chest clinic.

I can't help with the question of why the BCG had been recalled but what I can tell you is that when my dd had her BCG (at 10 weeks) I was told that if she waited until after 12 weeks old she wouldn't be able to have the BCG without the heaf test first.
I was very nervous about her having the BCG because I remember my BCG scar weeping and hurting for years afterwards. I needn't have worried because it was so quick and simple she didn't even cry and the slight mark on her arm disappeared after a couple of weeks.
If I were you I'd speak to your surgery/hv and find out if they can get hold of the BCG so that you can get it over and done with.

I know nothing about vaccines being recalled, but why do some BCG scars weep so much? Mine did nothing, does that mean it didn't work?

I thought bcg was something you were given at secondary school. Can someone explain?

Willow2
It is normally done at secondary school, but if you live in a high risk area e.g with lots of refugee families who can bring TB wth them (hope that doesn't sound racist - isn't meant to) then it is offered at 8 weeks. The vaccine was withdrawn jsut after my dd had hers so I panicked. But apparently there was contamination found in a batch for older kids (the strengths differ) so all TB vaccine was recalled pending a full investigation. My GP assured me that there had not been any probs with the baby vaccine.

melaniespeaking, I live in harlesden so the bcg is given routinely to "newborns." As I am a great believer in immunizations and have had my son one with all the recommended ones plus a few more american ones, I duly had him vaccinated with the bcg. However, when I discussed this several months later with his paediatrician in Los Angeles, she was not very positive about the vaccination. She said that in fact it is not terribly effective (60-70%) compared to most vaccinations and that once you've had the vaccination you can't be easily tested for tb until 10 years later. In the end I have decided to not have my pending daughter (due next week) vaccinated with the bcg despite our living in a "high risk" area. I think Meid is right about needing to test for tb first if the vaccination is given after 12 weeks.

Why can't you be tested for TB for 10 years, Sofiames? I thought it could be diagnosed with x-rays and a sputum culture? I'm worried now, as my 6 yr old's just had her BCG done because we're living in Asia, where there's a high TB rate. In fact, one of DH's colleagues' children is having tests for TB and they certainly aren't at the poverty stricken end of the scale. I know the vaccination doesn't have a great 'take' result but TB is such a horrid disease I think it's worth having.

Sorry SueDonim, didn't mean to alarm you. The paediatrician was talking about living in England or California and the risk of getting tb from a large immigrant population. I'm not sure she would advise against giving the vaccination if we were living in Asia where the rates are much higher in the general population. (As it happens my brother did actually get tb as an adult in either india or new york city....we're not sure which.) The testing that can't be done is the antibody scratch test that's done on the arm. I think that if you've been vaccinated recently it will show up positive and may even give a nasty reaction whether or not you actually have tb. But yes you can still do xrays/sputum etc., but sometimes (as in the case of my brother) it isn't entirely obvious whether or not you have tb from those tests. So, having said all of that, are you now completely confused about whether or not to vaccinate? Me too. And as I said in my previous post, I am a strong believer in vaccinations of all types.

LOL, SofiaAmes - I'm always confused! But yes, I see what you mean, now. WRT my dd's the deed has been done so it's not a case of having to make a decision, I just wondered what would happen if either of them did show symptoms. I wonder if it is worth adults having another shot, later in life? Mind you, I don't know that I could put up with that festering pustule for weeks and weeks!

prufrock - thanks for explaining