Tuberculosis: Can I get vaccinated after being vaccinated?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Dang Xuan Cuong - Emergency Department - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital. The doctor has 14 years of experience in the field of emergency resuscitation and poison control.
Although there has been an effective campaign to implement TB vaccination for the whole population, the risk of TB transmission after vaccination still occurs. Fully vaccinated against TB can get sick from direct contact with infected people

1. The concept of tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is listed in the list of chronic infectious diseases, the cause of the disease is the appearance of tuberculosis bacteria (Scientific name: Mycobacterium tuberculosis). Tuberculosis bacteria cause pulmonary tuberculosis, in addition, TB bacteria can also cause disease in any organs of the body such as lymph nodes, bones, joints, urinary kidneys, meninges.
Report of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that in 2017, there were 124,000 new cases of tuberculosis in Vietnam. According to statistics of the national anti-tuberculosis program, about 100,000 cases have been detected so far, leaving more than 20,000 undetected cases nationwide. The number of people who died from tuberculosis in Vietnam in 2017 was estimated at 12,000, much higher than the death rate from traffic accidents in the same period. Getting vaccinated according to the National Immunization Program schedule (or as close as possible) is very important and is the best way to prevent this disease.

2. Vaccination against tuberculosis

Immunization is currently one of the most effective methods to protect the body from infectious diseases by stimulating the body's resistance to the disease, thereby creating immunity against the disease.

Vietnam is currently using BCG vaccine for TB vaccination in children. In order for the TB vaccine to give the best results, it is important to get vaccinated against TB as soon as possible. Currently, TB vaccination is being widely deployed by the State in the Expanded Immunization Program in Vietnam with the recommended vaccination period from the time of birth to less than 1 month of age.

3. Can I still get the TB vaccine after I got vaccinated?

BCG vaccination against TB is an effective method, but not absolute. In fact, BCG is a vaccine belonging to a strain of attenuated bovine tuberculosis bacteria, so it has the ability to cause cross-immunity with tuberculosis bacteria existing in the human body due to the same antigens.
Therefore, BCG may not help us fight the invasion of pathogenic TB bacteria, but it has the ability to minimize the risk of converting from infectious to tuberculosis (about 70%) and nearly such as absolutely preventing the occurrence of dangerous TB complications such as tuberculosis of bones, tuberculosis of joints, tuberculosis of lungs, tuberculosis of meninges. Thanks to compliance with the TB vaccination, now, complications of tuberculous meningitis are almost not seen in children anymore.
Whether TB vaccination is effective or not largely depends on management to prevent TB transmission in the community. People who have been completely vaccinated against TB can get the disease through direct, frequent and long-term contact with an infected person; especially children under 1 year old are at the highest risk of infection due to weak immune systems. However, people who have been vaccinated in the event of an infection will usually have a milder illness and be treated more quickly than those who have not been vaccinated.

4. Some notes on TB prevention

All forms of TB complications are contagious, with pulmonary TB having the highest infection rate. TB bacteria enter the body through the respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, can be transmitted from mother to child.

TB germs are spread through the air in the form of tiny microscopic particles that are invisible to the naked eye when a person with TB symptoms cough, sneezes or talks. A healthy person can breathe in microscopic particles containing the TB germ and become infected. In addition, TB bacteria also have the ability to enter the body if we eat contaminated foods.
Most people get TB infection through frequent and frequent contact with sick people. Therefore, if someone in the family has tuberculosis, the patient should live separately, the living environment should be clean and airy. Care should be taken to limit contact of children under 5 years of age with sick people.
In case the body shows symptoms of prolonged cough, profuse sweating, fatigue, loss of appetite, frequent afternoon fever, it is necessary to immediately go to the nearest medical facility to detect the disease and treat it. timely.

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