BCG vaccine

noun

ˌbē-(ˌ)sē-ˈjē- 

: a vaccine prepared from a living attenuated strain of tubercle bacilli and used to vaccinate human beings against tuberculosis

called also BCG

Examples of BCG vaccine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But another vaccine — the BCG vaccine, formally called the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine which was developed more than a century ago — is somewhat effective in infants, Turner said. —Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 10 Feb. 2025

The BCG vaccine often leaves a scar where the recipient was given the shot. —Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 28 Jan. 2025

The BCG vaccine is effective at reducing transmission of TB among cows, but the U.K. prohibits its use because current tests can’t distinguish between infected cattle and vaccinated ones—a concern for trading cattle. —Byerik Stokstad, science.org, 5 Sep. 2024

Merck may have a competition for ever-scarce BCG There’s long been a global shortage of the BCG vaccine, which has long been used to treat bladder cancer. —Meghana Keshavan, STAT, 6 May 2024

No new shots have been developed since the BCG vaccine, in part because of scientific hurdles — tuberculosis is a far more complex pathogen than, say, SARS-CoV-2 — and in part because the disease primarily affects the planet’s poorest, providing little financial incentive for pharma companies. —Jason Mast Reprints, STAT, 28 June 2023

The researchers used records from Canada’s national health registry to track people who had received the BCG vaccine as children in the 1970s. —Viviane Callier, Scientific American, 19 Jan. 2023

Scientists in California recently reported that the healthcare workers who received the BCG vaccine in the past were less likely to contract COVID-19. —Kate Baggaley, Popular Science, 18 Dec. 2020

In 1924 a large clinical trial of more than 5,000 French children showed that the BCG vaccine had 93 percent efficacy in preventing death in the first year of life. —Viviane Callier, Scientific American, 19 Jan. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (an attenuated strain of tubercle bacilli), from Albert Calmette †1933 and Camille Guérin †1961 French bacteriologists

First Known Use

1925, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for BCG vaccine

• agin
• alkene
• allene
• ameen
• amin
• amine
• arene
• athene
• baleen
• beeline
• benzene
• between

Medical Definition

BCG vaccine

noun

ˌbē-(ˌ)sē-ˈjē- 

: a vaccine prepared from a living attenuated strain of tubercle bacilli and used to vaccinate human beings against tuberculosis