Abstract

Objective: To determine proportion of infants who do not developBCG scar after vaccination. To highlight importance of evaluation and follow up for these infants. Study Design:Observational Cross-sectional study. Setting: In Vaccination Centre Military Hospital Rawalpindi. Duration: From 1stJanuary 2003 to 15th March 2003. Materials & Methods: 50 to 70 infants are vaccinated in the hospital every day.Infants fulfilling the inclusion criteria averaged ten per day during this study. It took two and a half month, to completea random sample of 250 infants. Sample Size: 250 vaccinated infants. Results: Of all the infants, first 250 infants whofulfilled the laid down criteria were documented. Two hundred and one infants, males and females showed presenceof scar. Forty-nine infants, males and females showed no response to BCG vaccination. Conclusion: This descriptivestudy concludes that a significant proportion of infants does not show tuberculin reactivity after vaccination and needmonitoring and evaluation for causes of poor reactivity e.g. poor technique, quality of vaccine, improper storage as wellas underlying undiagnosed immunological disorders.