The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday urged parents whose children developed an abscess after receiving a vaccine for tuberculosis to take them back to the clinic or hospital where the injection was administered for assessment and treatment.
CDC physician Huang Hsin-yi (黃馨頤) said it is common for a sore or blister to form after being injected with the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, but this usually heals within two to three months after vaccination.
However, there are a few cases in which the swelling continues, expands or develops into a local abscess, Huang said.
“On average, there are about 10 reported cases of local abscesses developing after receiving a BCG vaccination each year. So far, we have received 14 reports of abscesses on infants born last year,” CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said, adding that the number could reach 20 if infants born last year but who have not yet received the vaccine are added in.
He said the agency recently held a specialists’ meeting to discuss the situation and about a few cases of swelling or abscess that were treated by surgical removal or drainage, he said.
“We do not suggest getting a surgical treatment,” he said.
“The agency suggests that parents take their children back to the clinic or hospital where they received the BCG vaccine for assessment and treatment,” Huang said.
The agency has also informed doctors about the treatment methods recommended by specialists, she added.
“Redness, swelling or suppuration where the shot was given are considered normal immune responses,” Lo said.
However, when the immune system is over-responsive to the vaccine, the local abscess can be bigger and take longer to heal, he said.
Babies develop better immunity as they grow, so they are more likely to develop a local abscess if they get vaccinated at an older age, he said.
He added that the increase in the number of cases last year might be due to a policy change, with the CDC recommending that BGC vaccination be postponed to when babies are between five and eight months old.
However, Lo said statistics showed that the cases of regional lymphadenitis following BCG vaccination have dropped from an average of 10 to 15 cases per year to one reported case so far in babies born last year.
“Usually an abscess can heal on its own, or improve with the help of oral medication or needle aspiration for abscess drainage. As such, surgical treatment that will cause a wound, delay recovery or increase risk of infection is not recommended,” he added.
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