Suggest Treatment For Persistent Injury At BCG Injection Site

Posted on Mon, 17 Oct 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 17 Oct 2016 Answered on

Tue, 8 Nov 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : My Baby's BCG injection area is still not healing as its over 14 weeks now. Still we see occasionally pus coming out. However seems like she is having not pain there. It is normal.
Also I have been giving pentaxim vaccination. for 6 week and 10 weeks. However since this vaccination is costly (8-9K) I thought of giving Normal painless vaccination for the 14th week. However a doctor suggested me that if you give Pentaxim once you cant change it again.

Answered by Dr. Diptanshu Das (44 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Register at a government setup for scheduled vaccinations.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking once again on HealthcareMagic.

It is normal for some painless suppuration to occur at the BCG site. It is not a cause for concern. You can get it examined by your doctor when you next visit him for vaccination.

Pentaxim is not so exorbitantly costly. Usually doctors charge between Rs.2000-2500 for the vaccine. However if you register at a government hospital for the vaccination of the child, the same (no difference, not inferior) vaccine would be administered for free. I think that is perhaps a better option. Please note that rotavirus vaccine would not be included and you would need to administer it from a pediatrician (I will recommend that).

Although a switch over to painless variety would be acceptable, the painless variety is less immunogenic (and more pricy) and I would not recommend that.

Feel free to write back.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Diptanshu Das (20 minutes later)

Thanks a lot Doctor for feedback. I was just wondering if its acceptable to switch from Painless to Painful in future as you have mentioned its less immunogenic. Is there any complications involved?

Answered by Dr. Diptanshu Das (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Explanation provided.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for writing back.
It is ok to give the painless vaccine in the future after switch. But please do not expect the 'painless' vaccine to be actually painless. It is just that the immune reactions (side effects) are less and the child is less likely to get fever and other problems after the vaccination. Moreover, in such a case the child will need to get vaccinated separately for all others (which would add to the pain). The choice is yours.

No complications expected.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar