[tricecm]

Our son had a positive mantoux test, but has no scar from the bcg shot. Our agency says that Guatemala will not even issue a birth certificate without proof that a child received that vaccine. I cannot find any documentation that he received that vaccine, nor can we find the scar.

He's now taking 6-9 months of anti-tb antibiotic along with a vitimin b6 supplement. He also has to have bi-weekly weight checks and liver function tests because liver problems are among the side effects of this medication. He had a negative chest xray, but a nasty cough and his weight gain all but stopped in May. He arrived home in early August.

Yeah. Sounds bad. And this isn't the only health issue he came home with.

I'm just wondering what other's experiences have been? Thanks in advance to all of you who share.

[Maggie Beth]

Trice --

PM me and remind me who your son's pediatrician was in Guat. Also, is the scar the one on their shoulder?

[chrisa]

Hi,
we have the same thing with our son. He came home in August and has no BCG scar but, I have his GC shot records and it states he did have the shot. His TB test did come back positve but, he also has the clear chest xray. Our doc here also wants to start him in INH for 9 months.

Chris

[tricecm]

Yes, that's the scar on their shoulder. Our pediatrician says that sometimes you'll also find it on their thigh.

He did have a clear chest xray, but he's had a pretty bad cough for a few months. And, I cannot find documentation anywhere that he had this vaccination.

[kcsunshine925]

Hi. I know you said that your agency claims that Guatemala will not issue a birth certificate, etc., but I have seen more than one person post on this forum that said that their pediatrician definitely did not do the BCG, because he knew it would cause issues with false positives in USA. So it's possible that your agency is misinformed......or the few people that posted about this are.

I'm not sure if the scar is always obvious, but it is on my daughter. You couldn't possibly miss it.

You might want to do a search, although not sure it will work for BCG, since it is such a short acronym.

I hope your son's cough gets better soon, and that you get through the antibiotics with no issues.

Sheila

[Mamarama]

Hi Trice

Birth certificates and vaccines are not related. The pediatrician that we use for all of our children in Guatemala does not do the bcg vaccine. And some parents opt out of some vaccines.

If you no longer have the records from the Embassy dr. checkup or the guatemala pediatrician's records, then it could be very simple to ask the pediatrician for confirmation. I have had luck doing this in similar situations.

If your agency is no longer in contact with this pediatrician, you can send me a pm and I'd be happy to check my book of Guat pediatricians and pass on any contact info I might find.

Originally Posted by tricecm

Our agency says that Guatemala will not even issue a birth certificate without proof that a child received that vaccine.

[csw]

Hi Trice..
So sorry you are going through this..I can empathize..
I don't know about the BC not being issued without the BCG vaccine..I know of at least 1 person who got no vaccines at all for her child while in Guatemala and had no problems..
Ana had a red blister on her arm for months and months after her BCG..it was given to her very late (7.5 months old) and I was a little annoyed she got it to tell you the truth..its usually given at birth or shortly after..in the hospital etc..
I had read that for girls (maybe boys?) if the parent is concerned about the scar that is is given in the buttocks..any chance of this?
From what I have read..even if the CXR is clear a baby/child could still harbor the bacteria and its farily rare..but within 1-2 years after being exposed it could go from latent to active and kids have a higher chance of TB meningitis etc..in other words..if they are going go from latent to active it would happen farily soon after being home and after 2 years its pretty unlikely unless they are immunosuppressed later on by steroids, AIDS or something like that..so..he could be harboring the TB bacteria and it would not show up on CXR..
Ana also had a positive test..she got the BCG late and her reaction was borderline positive..we elected not to treat her with 9 months of INH..until we get the blood test that can tell the difference between the TB strain in the BCG and that of actual TB in humans..I can give you the company name and info and you can call them and get a location of the closest place near you that does this test..Quantiferon-TB Gold...we are waiting for the lab nearest to us to get their act together and then Ana will get his done..
One word of caution..this happened to Ana..please don't let your child get any vaccine with thimerosal in it esp while they are on antibx..Ana was on an antibx during the 2nd dose of fluzone and had autistic symptoms..70% of mercury is excreted via stool and antibx disrupt the normal flora and impair the mercury excretion..
Please notify your doc/remind them that your child is on antibx..and..also..you may want to consider probiotics to help keep the guts normal flora while they are on antibx..and help prevent diarrhea etc..
Trice..you can PM me anytime..

[tricecm]

OK--Cathy this is helpful because he DOES have a red blistery thing where the bcg scar should be. It looks like a bite or something. And, after he started the antibiotics it would sometimes start to look like a zit and then ooze in the bathtub (I know--gross, sorry).

I wonder if that is the bcg scar. But.....being that it looks so new, and being that his medicals say that he's had this cough and very low weight gain since May, I wonder if they vaccinated him AFTER his symptoms showed up?

Traci---it's not that I lost anything or don't have it anymore-----It's just not listed on anything. Our first daughter (born 03-03 and home 03-04) had the scar, but no documentation that she's received the vaccine also, so that doesn't surprise me. I'll probably dig out the pediatrician info and ask you.

Thanks everyone!

[becky]

Trice,

Bella's scar also looked like a blister. In fact I thought she had been burned by a cigarette!! It wasn't until I was told what it was that I realized what was going on. Her scar is very faint...so it very well may be that he had the BCG and you just can't tell. In your case with the cough and low weight gain I think you are wise to treat....better to be safe than sorry...especially if there is any possibility of him passing it on to the rest of your family!

[jlwcats]

Trice,

My son had his BCG vaccine right before I picked him up. It looked like a pimple or a mosquito bite, and it did ooze sometimes. I have no idea why they gave him the vaccine right before he came to the US, it just didn't make sense. So, I have waited almost 2.5 years to get a tb test done, with the hopes that it won't be positive. Sorry you're having problems.

[avoel]

I think some hospitals must give it to newborns at birth too. Cali has the scar but saw a ped who doesn't give the vaccine from 3 days of age until she came home. So she had to have received it in the hospital where she was born. Her TB skin test was negative at 5 months old here, thank goodness.

[GabeMom]

What does BCG vaccinate for? TB? When I was down in August there was a spot on Gabe's arm I was worried about was that what it probably was? See pic below.

[Maggie Beth]

I have been told that many Guatemalan hospitals require this vaccine before they will release the child from the hospital. TB is a concern in Guatemala... some Guatemalan provinces have regular TB outbreaks, so this vaccine is considered an essential to this population.

[tricecm]

The second picture is what Tommy's arm looks like. But, here's the thing: He was in MN with us from August 4th until about Aug 23 before he started taking the medication after his positive tb test. Once he started taking that medication, the little blistery thing started to change. Every few days it would turn into a large zit looking thing, and then in the tub it would start to ooze. Like a cycle.

Looks like you're traveling to pick up Gabe on Saturday. I'll be eager to see what his shoulder looks like when you get there---and whether it's healed or not.

I'm starting to think that our son got the vaccine, but given his persistent cough over several months, the pediatrician thinks (and I agree) that he probably received the vaccine after he'd already been exposed to tb.

[GabeMom]

Thanks for the info.

Trice, Hopefully your guy will feel better soon.

Gabe did not have the place on his arm at 3 months, but it was there when I went in August. I will let you know how it looks when we get him.


Thanks so much.