Hi all,

I would like to know tht all babies born in swiss have got vaccinated with BCG.
Buse my baby is 18 months and she has not got BCG vaccination.I asked her Pediatrics,he said its not neccesary in swiss and he is nt willing to do tht.

But i heard from many of my frnds and there kids(one is same age of my baby)has got vaccinated with BCG.Y these much variation in vaccination for baby from one pediatrics to another.
Also i wanted to know any where in zurich ,who can vaccinate my baby with BCG.


Thank u all in advance.
I hope this thread will help other mommies too :)

My 20 month old didn't get it here. Never even crossed my mind to ask for it and as long as we live here, she won't be getting it. For that matter I never had it either (grew up in New Zealand).

BCG is used in countries with a high prevalence/incidence of Tuberculosis, it does not prevent disease but rather the more complicated cases of it (i.e. miliary disease) since CH is not a high risk country they do not offer it but maybe you can mention that you will travel soon to India or Peru for example and then maybe he will refer you to a center where they do this type of vaccination

HTH

My son was never offered the vaccination here either. I think it's only recommended for babies who are likely to come into contract with the TB virus either through mixing with infected people here or if they are travelling to areas with high infection rates.

I had the vaccination in school the UK when I was 13 but I've no idea if they do it any more.

I don't see it as much of a risk but if the OP wants to pursue it, try this place - they might be able to advise you further.

No they don't do it routinely in the UK anymore only to high risk people. The numbers of case are on the increase in the UK (blamed like most things on immigration I think) and I seem to recall there was a shortage of the vaccine a couple years ago.

M son wasn't offered it in Belgium either so I think they may not offer routine BCG vaccines in any countries with a very low risk of TB.

If you are likely to travel to a high risk area maybe they will give it to you.

And if your pediatrician won't offer it try a tropical health center...

http://www.swisstph.ch/

Maybe they can help.

NZer's used to be tested at about 12-13 yrs. The practise became redundant after it was deemed that TB had been wiped out in the country. However, now there are more reported cases.....

With the amount of international travel I do, or the people I have contact with from throughout the world, (and Switzerland is a crossroad) I am happy to have been immunised.

In the UK, the immunisation seems to be recommended for people at risk eg: hospital personnel.

I used to work in a medical lab in NZ and we were definitely seeing positive cases there. Still, all we ever got was regular Mantoux tests, once every 2 years or something. I also worked in hospitals in NZ and it was the same there, regular Mantoux screening was deemed enough.

I have a colleague who went to work in Scotland a couple of years ago, and she had to have the BCG before she started work there. She had it here before she went, so it's definitely possible to have it here. I'm pretty sure she had to pay for it herself (didn't come out of her health insurance).

It's not routinely done in CH anymore, since it's considered to be a (very) painful vaccine, with a lot of secondary effects, some of them pretty severe. Plus it leaves a scar on the skin.

The vaccination itself isn't that painful but it does form a small scab over the injection site which, in itself, is also not painful but if memory serves me right, it was the kids in class that found it hilarious to punch each other on the arm that caused the pain. Kids, huh!

my question is if its painfull,it shld be banned all over swiss ,but here still Dr give it for 4 months baby.i dont think its painful.

Y Dr or not following unique vaccination list ???

There are also some questions over the efficacy of the vaccine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_Calmette-Gu%C3%A9rin so I would imagine that if the risk of getting TB in CH is low then they will not vaccinate. I was almost a teenager before I got my BCG (I was not in CH though!).

We didn't get this vaccine for our child simply bc it isn't needed in CH. The risk is very low here however if you were traveling to a country where it is prevalent than I'd suggest getting it otherwise there is no need.