BCG vaccine immunity against human tuberculosis. The BCG vaccine can be anywhere from 0 to 80% effective in preventing tuberculosis for a duration of 15 years; however, its protective effect appears to vary according to geography and the lab in which the vaccine strain was grown. A number of different companies make BCG, sometimes using different genetic strains of the bacterium. This may result in different product characteristics. OncoTICE, used for bladder instillation for bladder cancer, was developed by Organon Laboratories (since acquired by Schering-Plough, and in turn acquired by Merck & Co.). Pacis BCG, made from the Montréal (Institut Armand-Frappier) strain,
Inoculation is derived from the Latin "in + oculus" (eye). Though "innoculation/innoculate" (with a double "nn" rather than a single "n") is sometimes seen, this is incorrect, possibly erroneously thought to be related to innocuous, which is derived from the Latin "in + nocuus" (not harmful). Inoculation originated as a method for the prevention of smallpox by deliberate introduction of material from smallpox pustules into the skin. This generally produced a less severe infection than naturally-acquired smallpox, but still induced immunity to it. This first method for smallpox prevention, smallpox inoculation, is now also known as variolation. Inoculation has ancient origins