BCG reaction - OMG!!

Am very very annoyed with my last private pedo who was a last minute stand-in for Dr Joseph Pang- she gave my daughter the shot in the arm a few days after birth when we were at the Matilda, no question of whether we wanted to have it in the thigh. My daughter is now 8 mths old and still has a very nasty scar in that area.
Also she was very insistant that my daughter she have light treatment even though she was being breast-fed at that time, she took her blood by SCRAPing at her heel into a test tube- whereas in Matilda the technican did a really quick blood taking from the heel - LO hardly ever made a whimper at the hosiptal whereas she screamed her lungs out at the peds office. And the icing on the cake was when I refused to send her into the hospital for light therapy she said " You daughter could be mentally damaged if you don't give her the phototherapy"- this was after I took her to Dr Dannie Ting who said my daughters levels were acceptable for BF babies (also did not need to take a blood test but used a special light to check).
So a warning to all mums- go to a paeditrican who knows their stuff and isn't too interested in the fact that your insurance pays for everything. Most impt is to get a second opinion.
 
jaetee said:
I delivered at Adventist and my baby got the vaccine in the arm as well. :(
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Our baby was born at the Matilda and the vaccine was given in the arm as well. So I guess that's where it usually goes, unless you ask for it differently?

At what age can you reasonably expect the raised bump to disappear?
 
I delivered at Matilda, too, but for both my children the BCG was given in the hip. It must depend on which paediatrician you have.

(And the bump has now burst, and looks quite a bit better now I've cleared all the goo away. I rang the paediatrician and he said just to use water to clean it)
 
Many paeds believe only in giving the BCG shot in the arm, as occasionally the reaction can be quite severe and it is actually best having the "wound" in the open rather than in the nappy-covered region.

Having said that, my son had his BCG in the arm, my daughter in the thigh.

Son's vaccination site went through various stages of looking very raised, red and unsightly for well over a year before starting to settle down and fade. At not quite 5 years old now he has a very neat little fine white scar - I have been surprised by how beautifully it has healed given how horrid it looked at various times! Honestly, looks just like a little scratch or cut, not unsightly at all.

Even when it looked at it's worst, though, I reassured myself that at least he was protected against TB.

But take heart, Mum's of young babes who have a BCG site looking a bit scary at the moment. They really can settle down to leave virtually no scar at all, it just takes time.

edited to add, I've actually been concerned that my 8 month daughter's BCG site hasn't reacted enough! Her paed reckons it's ok, though. Just shocked at the enormous difference between the different reactions in my two children.[\i]
 
nicolejoy said:
What age do they give that injection? I'll have to remember to ask them NOT to give it!! That's the scar that practically ALL the Chinese people I know have. I don't know if we got that in Australia, but I don't have that scar and none of my friends do either!!
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That's not a BCG scar, that's scarring from the old smallpox vaccinations they used to give many years ago. BCG usually clears up without any scarring at all.
 
My daughter now 6 months old just got the reaction even thought the injection was a month ago. It turned into rather a large nasty boil. The doctors here in HK wanted to OPERATE and put the baby under a general. INSANE. If Eu they would tell you to just leave it and keep it clean. Its not bothering her and isn't painful nor is she sick. How the doctor who suggested the operation still has a license is unreal she should be struck off. The Adventis hospital seemed more interested in the money not our daughter. % days later not and its almost gone.
 
Ms2 had hers shortly after birth in her arm and Ms4 had hers at about three in her thigh (or maybe it is the other way around???).

Anyhoo, before I go and check, the one in the arm festered for a long time and burst and then festered again. It calmed down after about 12 months. The one in the leg never really did a lot. Today (well when I last noticed) they both look pretty much the same. A light scar but nothing like the festering mess that freaked me out!

It will get better.
 
Since my original post about a year ago, the boil-like thing healed (though it did take a while) and she has been left with a scar on her hip. It's still a bit pink, but has faded substantially. I'm sure that with time it will fade even more.
 
I had my BCG when I was 11 yrs old at secondary school in the UK. Most 11 yr olds did. I have a scar on my upper right arm.

My son had his BCG in the UK when he was 3 weeks old because we were coming to HK. He had the same boil-like reaction other posters have mentioned. Now its fading.

We didn't get an option to have the shot in any other body part.
 
My baby girl is going to be permanently scarred, thanks to the previous helper who picked off the BCG scab and left a big bleeding wound on her arm. When I confronted her, she claimed she didn't pick the scab but it fell off when she "touched" it.
 
I had the BCG jab as a baby. If it helps I have no idea which arm I had it as I now have no scar, I'm pretty sure they'll fade with time.
 
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