BCG vaccine

noun

Immunology.

1. a vaccine made from weakened strains of tubercle bacilli, used to produce immunity against tuberculosis.

BCG vaccine

1. A preparation used to immunize individuals against tuberculosis, consisting of attenuated live human tubercle bacilli (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), the bacteria that cause tuberculosis.

Word History and Origins

Origin of BCG vaccine¹

1925–30; B(acillus) C(almette-)G(uérin)

Example Sentences

Indeed, there’s evidence to suggest it may have been a mistake to stop administering the smallpox vaccine after the total elimination of smallpox, or to end the BCG vaccine as tuberculosis infection became rare.

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Two back-to-back randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled trials found that the BCG vaccine provided continuous protection for nearly the entire COVID-19 pandemic in the US, regardless of the viral variant.

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Instead of receiving one dose of BCG, participants received five or six doses of a particularly potent strain of BCG vaccine.

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"We know that in people who are naïve to BCG vaccine, the off-target effects can take at least two years to achieve full protection," said Faustman.

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The MGH trials enrolled 141 participants with type 1 diabetes; 93 people in the treatment group received five or six doses of BCG vaccine and the 48 individuals in the placebo group received sham vaccine and were followed for 36 months to capture diverse COVID-19 genetic variants and many infectious disease exposures.

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