BCG vaccine BCG was adopted by the Health Committee of the League of Nations (predecessor to the WHO). Because of opposition, however, it only became widely used after World War II. From 1945 to 1948, relief organizations (International Tuberculosis Campaign or Joint Enterprises) vaccinated over 8 million babies in eastern Europe and prevented the predicted typical increase of TB after a major war. BCG is very efficacious against tuberculous meningitis in the pediatric age group, but its efficacy against pulmonary tuberculosis appears to be variable. As of 2006, only a few countries do not use BCG for routine vaccination. Two countries that
Inoculation Needham states that this information comes from the "Zhongdou xinfa" (種痘心法) written in 1808 by Zhu Yiliang, centuries after the alleged events. The first clear and credible reference to smallpox inoculation in China comes from Wan Quan's (1499–1582) "Douzhen xinfa" (痘疹心法) of 1549, which states that some women unexpectedly menstruate during the procedure, yet his text did not give details on techniques of inoculation. Inoculation was first vividly described by Yu Chang in his book "Yuyi cao" (寓意草), or "Notes on My Judgment", published in 1643. Inoculation was reportedly not widely practised in China until the reign of the Longqing