by Mission Motherhood posted in Parenting

Have you ever seen someone with a scar on their arm that looks like this and wondered what it is"

If you?re talking to someone under age 45, it?s a safe bet that they were born outside the U.S. The BCG, or bacille Calmette-Guerin vaccine for tuberculosis, is given to babies at birth in many countries, including in Mexico, and leaves this distinctive scar. (If you?re U.S.-born and over age 45, you may have a similar-looking scar from the smallpox vaccine that was common until 1972.)

Other than the scar, people who have gotten the BCG vaccine will test positive on TB skin tests, which makes it more difficult to diagnose an active infection.
So why is it given"
BCG is used in countries with a high rate of tuberculosis (TB) to prevent diseases including childhood tuberculous meningitis, an infection that?s one of the main reasons 465+ children die every single day from TB-related causes around the world. That?s 465 children per day ? and some sources say the actual death toll is even higher. Even if children survive childhood tuberculous meningitis, about half of survivors are left with what doctors darkly call "neurological sequelae": brain damage that can cause stroke, hydrocephalus, epilepsy, even a persistent vegetative state.
So if you see a person with a scar on their arm, you know it's one to be grateful for.
In Mexico, infants get the BCG vaccine at birth; they then follow a vaccination schedule that's t...