Two students in central China's Hunan
Province have contracted tuberculosis after being vaccinated
against the disease, sparking fear among hundreds of parents.
Between 1999 and 2001, more than 2,000 primary and middle school
students in Gaoping township of Longhui County were inoculated
against TB. Two of the students, Yuan Longping and Wang Haiyan,
were diagnosed with the disease late last year, said Yang Jian,
head of the county's epidemic prevention station.
The two cases caused many parents in the area to worry about the
safety of the vaccinations. Some said their children had running
sores around the injection and often suffered from fevers,
dizziness and sweating during sleep, the Guangdong newspaper
New Express reported on Monday.
Longhui County health authorities sent investigators to the
township and organized X-rays for the students from August 13, said
Yang.
He said health workers have investigated around 1,000 local
students who were vaccinated and found nine of them had large scars
on their arms, indicating suppuration after receiving the
vaccinations. Yang said the main cause of this problem was that
doctors had injected the serum too deeply.
Yang said 21 of around 500 students X-rayed were found to have
pathological changes such as shadows on their lungs.
"But we cannot determine immediately that the students have TB
because catching a cold can lead to similar symptoms," Yang
stated.
He said any persons diagnosed with TB can receive free
treatment.
"Having a TB vaccine cannot cause TB, and the vaccine cannot
prevent TB one hundred percent. But many people here do not have a
full understanding of this," said Yang.
The New Express reported that a total of eight students
in Gaoping township, accompanied by their parents, went to
Guangzhou for lung examinations. Many other parents from the
township also took their children to hospitals in Yunnan,
Hubei
and Sichuan
provinces.
According to the World Health Organization, questions have been
raised about the overall effectiveness of the Bacillus Camille
Guerin (BCG vaccine) that is normally administered to prevent TB
infection. Local reactions, ulcers and inflammation of the lymph
nodes frequently occur if the vaccine is administered too deeply,
says the WHO, and disseminated disease has been reported very
rarely in immunocompromised individuals.
(China Daily, China.org.cn August 17, 2004)