Clinical use of BCG and its complications: a case series
- Authors: Claudia Colomba, Raffaella Rubino, Gabriele Mantia, Federica Guida Marascia, Michelle Abbott, Andrea Gizzi, Antonio Anastasia, Gabriele Palermo, Manlio Tolomeo, Antonio Cascio
- Publication year: 2021
- Type: Articolo in rivista
- OA Link: http://hdl.handle.net/10447/534432
Abstract
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), a live, attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis, is the essential constituent of the vaccine against tuberculosis and the gold-standard adjuvant treatment for urothelial cancer of the bladder. Being a live, attenuated strain with a potential pathogenic action, bacilli can cause several complications, both locally near the inoculation site and remotely through blood dissemination. BCG-related disease can represent a side effect of anti-TB vaccination in patient with congenital or acquired immunodeficiency or a complication of the therapeutic schedule in oncologic patients. Herein we report five cases of BCG-related disease which occurred at the Infectious Diseases Department of the University Hospital of Palermo during a five-year period from January 2014 to December 2019.