Bacillus Calmette-Guérin
Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (historically Vaccin Bilié de Calmette et Guérin commonly referred to as Bacille de Calmette et Guérin or BCG) is a vaccine against tuberculosis that is prepared from a strain of the attenuated (virulence-reduced) live bovine tuberculosis bacillus, Mycobacterium bovis, that has lost its virulence in humans by being specially subcultured in a culture medium, usually Middlebrook 7H9. Because the living bacilli evolve to make the best use of available nutrients, they become less well-adapted to human blood and can no longer induce disease when introduced into a human host. Still, they are similar enough to their wild ancestors to provide some degree of immunity against human tuberculosis. The BCG vaccine can be anywhere from 0 to 80% effective in preventing tuberculosis for a duration of 15 years; however, its protective effect appears to vary according to geography and the lab in which the vaccine strain was grown.
It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, a list of the most important medication needed in a basic health system.
- Links
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus Calmette-Gu%C3%A9rin
- Relevant Specialties
- Respiratory and Sleep Specialist
- Medical Conditions
- Tuberculosis
