Isolated remote site musculoskeletal Mycobacterium bovis infections after BCG immunisation in immunocompetent children

Abstract

The Bacillus Calmette–Guerin (BCG) vaccine, derived from wild-type Mycobacterium bovis, is administered in an attenuated form to prevent Mycobacterium tuberculous (MTB) infections in children residing in endemic regions. Since the introduction of the Singapore Tuberculosis Elimination Programme in 1997—specifying mandatory BCG-immunisation at birth—the incidence fell drastically to 32.6 per 100,000 population in 2021,1 with the paediatric population contributing 2.1% of infections.2