The Association of BCG Vaccination with Atopy and Asthma in Adults

Int J Med Sci 2015; 12(8):668-673. doi:10.7150/ijms.12233

Research Paper

Sung Soo Park¹, Eun Young Heo¹, Deog Kyeom Kim¹, Hee Soon Chung¹, Chang-Hoon Lee^1,2 

1. Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul Metropolitan Government Seoul National University Boramae Medical center, Seoul, Republic of Korea
2. Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea

How to cite this article:
Park SS, Heo EY, Kim DK, Chung HS, Lee CH. The Association of BCG Vaccination with Atopy and Asthma in Adults. Int J Med Sci 2015; 12(8):668-673. doi:10.7150/ijms.12233. Available from http://www.medsci.org/v12p0668.htm

Abstract

Introduction: There are few studies investigating the association between BCG vaccination and atopy or asthma in adults.

Objective: We investigated the association between BCG scar and the occurrence of atopy and asthma in Korean adults.

Methods: We carried out a retrospective study of Korean adults who underwent skin prick testing, and, in some cases, spirometry and bronchial provocation tests in a secondary care hospital from April 2010 to February 2011. Atopy status was classified according to allergen/histamine (A/H) ratio of wheal (A/H ratio ≥ 1, atopy; 0 < A/H ratio < 1, intermediate; A/H ratio = 0, non-atopy). A patient with asthma was defined as one who has symptoms compatible with asthma and showed either a positive provocation testing or bronchodilator reversibility.

Results: Among 200 participants, neither the presence (intermediate vs. non-atopy: adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.83; 95% CI 0.26, 2.60; p = 0.75, atopy vs. non-atopy: aOR 0.89; 95% CI 0.33, 2.37; p = 0.81, respectively). nor the size of BCG scar was significantly associated with atopy status. However, among those patients who underwent either bronchodilator response testing or bronchial provocation testing, the presence of BCG scar (aOR 0.33; CI 0.14, 0.77; p = 0.01) and the size of BCG scar were inversely associated with asthma. (p = 0.01)

Conclusions: We found a significant association between BCG scar and asthmatic status in Korean adults, although there was no significant association between either the presence or size of BCG scar and atopy.

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