BCG VACCINATION IN SILICOSIS

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Abstract
BCG organisms injd. intracut. in guinea pigs localized lungs and tracheobronchial lymph nodes, remaining viable for up to 18 months. Simultaneous exposure to quartz dust by inhalation caused spreading and fatal tuberculous disease ascribed to increased tissue susceptibility, rather than to increased virulence of the organism. Simultaneous inhalation of BCG organisms and quartz dust also resulted in progressive tuberculosilicosis. Two months after intracut. BCG vaccination, animals were infected by inhalation with the attenuated R1 strain of human-type tubercle bacillus, and then exposed by inhalation to quartz dust. All of the silicotic animals developed tuberculous disease, indicating that no protection against tuberculosilicosis was given by the BCG vaccination. It is suggested that BCG vaccination is contraindicated in persons likely to be exposed to quartz dust.