BCG vaccine 400 per 100,000 in that higher risk context). The age of the person and the frequency with which BCG is given has always varied from country to country. BCG is prepared from a strain of the attenuated (virulence-reduced) live bovine tuberculosis bacillus, "Mycobacterium bovis", that has lost its ability to cause disease in humans. Because the living bacilli evolve to make the best use of available nutrients, they become less well-adapted to human blood and can no longer induce disease when introduced into a human host. Still, they are similar enough to their wild ancestors to provide some degree of
Inoculation a 20% incidence of severe scarring), many parents felt that the benefits of inoculation outweighed the risks and so inoculated their children. Two forms of the disease of smallpox were recognised, now known to be due to two strains of the Variola virus. Those contracting "Variola minor" had a greatly reduced risk of death – 1–2% – compared to those contracting "Variola major" with 30% mortality. Infection via inhaled viral particles in droplets spread the infection more widely than the deliberate infection through a small skin wound. The smaller, localised infection is adequate to stimulate the immune system to produce