B. Gonzalez et al., TUBERCULIN REACTIVITY IN FAMILIES OF INFANTS WHO FAILED TO DEVELOP TUBERCULIN REACTIVITY AFTER BCG IMMUNIZATION AT BIRTH, Tubercle and lung disease, 75(2), 1994, pp. 144-148
Setting: Some infants immunized with BCG in the newborn period fail to
develop any measurable tuberculin reactivity despite a local reaction
at the site of immunization. Objective: We wished to determine the po
ssibility of a genetic regulation of this phenomenon by comparing the
tuberculin reactivity of BCG-immunized parents and siblings of infants
who failed to respond to BCG, and of infants who developed tuberculin
reactivity after immunization. Design: We studied 65 parents and sibl
ings of 33 nonresponder infants, and 35 parents and siblings of 14 inf
ants who had developed tuberculin reactivity. Tuberculin reactivity wa
s analyzed by multiple regression analysis considering the BCG immuniz
ation status of each individual, and the 2 groups were compared by ana
lysis of covariance. Results: 96 of these family members had one or mo
re BCG scars. The percentages of tuberculin reactors and non-reactors
among BCG-immunized family members of both index infant groups were no
t significantly different. Conclusion: These observations suggest that
maturational differences among newborns, rather than genetic regulati
on, account for the lack of development of cellular immunity against t
uberculin after BCG immunization in some infants.