Abstract

The BCG vaccination has been employed as the main control measure for pulmonary tuberculosis in Korea since 1952. However, the protective efficacy of BCG against tuberculosis has been controversial worldwide. This study was conducted to evaluate the protective efficacy of BCG against pulmonary tuberculosis by a case-control study. The study subjects included all the pulmonary tuberculous patients under 20 years of age who were registered in six health centers in Taegu City between May 1 and September 30, 1982. The controls were randomly selected among non-tuberculous out-patients matched by the age, sex and residence of the cases. The history of BCG vaccination was confirmed by the scar of 400 cases and 659 controls. The relative risk of the BCG recipients for pulmonary tuberculosis were 0.5 and the protective efficacy of the BCG was 51.5%. It appears that the BCG vaccination is an efficient preventive measure in Korea where tuberculosis is prevalent. Thus the routine BCG vaccination should be continued.