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
BCG disease outbreak in Finland in the 2000s BCG disease outbreak in Finland in the 2000s BCG disease is an adverse effect of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine. The vaccine contains living "Mycobacterium bovis" BCG, and in BCG disease, the bacterium causes a disease in persons vaccinated. Between 2000 and 2006, several hundred children in Finland had serious adverse events from the vaccine, including osteitis and osteomyelitis, disseminated (usually fatal) BCG infection, arthritis, and lymph node abscesses. Four deaths were registered in the official adverse event register, and while in only two cases a clear causal link was considered to be in place, two other cases were diagnosed with