A complication of BCG vaccine: A case of localized cutaneous abscess due to Mycobacterium bovis

Abstract

The attenuated bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is administered to prevent tuberculosis. Complications of vaccination are uncommon. A case of cutaneous abscess due to BCG is presented in a 24-year-old woman. The abscess developed at the inoculation site four weeks after vaccination. Routine Gram stain and bacterial cultures o f the pus were negative. The auramine stain was positive. Mycobacterial cultures were positive after 14 and 18 days, using the BACTEC 12B bottle and Lowenstein-Jensen media, respectively. The mycobacteria were identified as Mycobacterium bovis, vaccinal strain by high- performance liquid chromatography and DNA probe assays.