BCG-Associated Osteomyelitis: A Case Report

Abstract

BCG (Mycobacterium bovis BCG) is a vaccine for preventing childhood tuberculosis (TB).
The World Health Organization registered freeze-dried Tokyo-172 seed lot as an international
reference vaccine strain in 1965, and ever since, the Tokyo-172 BCG has been used, not only
in Japan, but also all over the world. However, there are some severe adverse reactions that
developed beyond vaccination site and regional ipsilateral axillary lymph-nodes. Osteomyelitis
is a very rare but serious late complication of BCG-immunization and results from generalized
dissemination of BCG.1 We present a case of a 23-month-old boy with a mass lesion in the right
shoulder.