Reversal of negative lepromin reactions following use of tuberculosis vaccine irradiated.

A substantial change has taken place in recent years in the approach to the prevention of leprosy through antituberculosis vaccination. Since 1939 efforts have been made to start trials of BCG vaccine on humans as a prophylactic measure against malign leprosy. The third Pan-American Conference on Leprosy held in Buenos Aires in 1951, in connection with a subject of its agenda, "Actual Status of Antileprosy Campaigns," suggested the possibility of including BCG vaccination as a prophylactic measure. After that time numerous studies were conducted, and at the Sixth International Congress of Leprology held in Madrid ip 1953 no less than 18 of the papers offered dealt, in one way or another, with the effects of BCG vaccination, several of them with respect to prophylaxis. The report of the Committee on Epidemiology and Control stressed "the promising results which have recently been obtained with the lepromin reaction induced by B.C.G." 2 Those of us who were interested wanted to conduct a study on the use of BCG in the areas of the highest morbidity in this country. In May 1953, at a meeting of the Argentine Society of Leprology, we announced the beginning of our study although we had the serious obstacle of the short space of time that BCG can be used after manufacture. At about the same time we were offered S a new vaccine which had the advantage of being stable for a long period of time, thus facilitating large-scale trials.