ABSTRACT
Objective To study the BCG vaccination scars of under 5 year old children who were admitted to a tertiary care hospital Design Cross sectional descriptive study Setting Ward 3, Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children (LRH) Method All children between 6 and 60 months of age, admitted to ward 3 LRH from October 15th to December 30th 2006, were included in the study. The interviewer-administered questionnaire and examination of the child for BCG scar were the methods used to collect the data. Results: Of 1010 patients admitted to ward 3 LRH during the study period, 923 were analysed. BCG vaccine had been given to all patients. Whilst 821 (89%) patients had the BCG scar, 102 (11%) did not have it. Among patients with the BCG scar, 20% had received BCG vaccine in non tertiary care hospitals, whereas in patients with absent BCG scar, this figure was 35% (p=0.003; p < 0.05). In the Child Health Development Record (CHDR), the BCG scar column had been marked in only 554 (64%). Among 102 patients with absent BCG scar, revaccination was not indicated in 20 (21%) because the BCG scar had been marked as positive in the CHDR. However, 96 had not been revaccinated. Common reasons for non revaccination were: unawareness of mothers regarding absent BCG scar (38.5%) and postponement of revaccination (24%). Conclusion There was a significant number of patients with absent BCG scars indicating need for larger scale studies.