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In Support of Bacillus of Calmette and Guérin for Healthcare Workers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Adam W.J. Jenney  and
Denis W. Spelman
Adam W.J. Jenney
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Alfred Hospital, Prahran, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Denis W. Spelman*
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Alfred Hospital, Prahran, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
*
Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Alfred Hospital, Prahran, Melbourne, Victoria, 3181, Australia
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Abstract

Although widely used outside the United States, bacillus of Calmette and Guerin (BCG) immunization generally is given scant consideration in the US literature. We believe that the recent resurgence of tuberculosis, including multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, is a compelling argument for the use of BCG in healthcare workers and that BCG given to those at risk of exposure could be more effective than routine tuberculin skin testing and isoniazid prophylaxis.

Type
Readers' Forum
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , March 1998 , pp. 191 - 193
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1998

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