Tuberculin skin testing in Vietnamese refugees with a history of BCG vaccination

Among 50 Indo-Chinese children 18 years of age or younger who were screened at the Albany County (New York) Health Department, during 1979, 14 had a history of BCG vaccination. These patients were not intradermally tested with 5 TU of PPD because it was assumed that the reactions would not be interpretable. To test this hypothesis, nine patients were available for testing. Six patients had a negative reaction, two had a reaction greater than 10 mm of induration, and one had an equivocal reaction. Nine of the 36 patients without a history of BCG vaccination also had positive reactions to the same dose of PPD. All patients with positive reactions had normal chest x-ray films and received isoniazid prophylaxis, regardless of BCG history in accordance with Centers for Disease Control recommendations. A history of BCG vaccination should not preclude skin testing with PPD (given in tuberculin units), and a patient with a positive reaction should receive appropriate treatment.