[BCG vaccination--controversy and compromise].
In Sweden, BCG-vaccination is recommended to certain risk groups only, as the incidence of TB is very low. Children from high-endemic areas, as well as health care personnel, especially those working in risk areas, are the most important target groups. The efficacy of BCG vaccination has varied in different investigations, but early Nordic studies have shown approximately 80 percent protection. Vaccination prevents disseminated but not localized pulmonary disease. There are no data supporting revaccination. Today some Swedish children are vaccinated without a clear indication, due to caretakers' fear of TB. The risk of new infection is very low in Sweden today, and is for all practical purposes limited to the closest family members of affected individuals. If large numbers of refugees from high-endemic countries arrive in Sweden, the epidemiological situation must be closely monitored.
Petrini
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Avdelningen för klinisk mikrobiologi, Karolinska institutet och Karolinska sjukhuset, Stockholm. bjornp@ks.se
D001500:BCG Vaccine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012036:Refugees; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000208:ethnology; D014195:Travel; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000517:prevention & control; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission
D001500:BCG Vaccine