My baby had a small pox vaccination a couple months ago and she never got a scab. recently there has been swelling and redness and it looks like a scab may just be forming. Is this normal. I thought the scab would have formed sooner if there would be one.
After a couple of months? Seems odd. This is how a typical smallpox vaccine reaction looks from 4-21 days:
bt.cdc.gov/agent/smallpox/sm … xsit5a.htm
Anyone else want to weigh in?
My daughter had a small scab, but it wasn’t as bad as in pics. I don’t think the son got anything but mild irritation. Erring on the cautious side (ok paranoid) I’d get the doc to take a look.
Smallpox - really? Is that back on the radar? Yikes!
Canada stopped that vaccine completely in the 1970s. Even soldiers stopped getting it in 1979/1980 (the year it was declared globally eradicated). The last (non-lab) outbreak was in 1977 in Somalia.
I guess there is a fear someone, somewhere may have a sample that is not known about and use it for ill-purpose, but then there are so many things to fear.
phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/ccd … /acs1.html
"Most Canadians born in or since 1972 were never immunized against smallpox. In 2001, approximately 12.2 million persons, or 39% of the Canadian population, are <= 29 years of age. These people are considered to be susceptible to smallpox.
The immune status of those who were vaccinated prior to 1972 is not known. "
Where did your child receive the vaccination? (I was unaware that any country apart from the USA had reintroduced it as a routine vaccine, and in the US since 2001 it has been given only to those who may be potentially at risk from germ warfare, the only possible exposure route at the moment, such as military, senior admin, and medical staff.)
any reaction beyond the first few days is highly unusual, and a late reaction at or near the vaccine site may not necessarily be connected with the vaccine itself.
Second that on confirming whether it is smallpox. As per Taiwan’s available vaccines:
drbear.com.tw/english/edefault_4_1.htm
Sincerely, I just took the MMR and it said wost symptoms would come a 3 days to a week later… boy, was that awful.
I come from a 3rd world country and they don’t have smallpox vaccines anymore.
Sorry guys 
totally my mistake. I didn’t dwell on the small pox part. Just scab and vaccine :loco: No my kids did not get it. Now I want to go hide under a stone. Sorry.
I decided to go to the doctor and get it checked. Doc said no problem just a little late reaction.Thanks for the quick replies.
Good to hear! Still interested that your child got small pox vaccine. Not trying to pry, I am just interested in worldwide eradication programs.
Thanks for posting that list, Icon. I note that it says available vaccines, not routine.
I am curious whether Japanese encephalitis (not really an urban disease) and Hep A and B are given to children here as part of a childhood immunization program.
Good to see DPT on there, as I learned at RenAi hospital - not all doctors here know Tetanus vaccine can be used as a prophylactic. forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … =8&t=84753
Ozzy, great to hear your kid is all right. It is always better to err on the cautious side -I know from my collection of silly questions to the vets.
Kage, a few links related to vaccination here in Taiwan, including hepatitis and japanese encephalities -which all travelers to Taiwan are warned about: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1449171/
Yep, tetanus is on the adult chart my brother recommended. It is on my list of to do, with all the boosters, hepatitis, HPV, etc…
Taiwan stopped small pox vaccinations in 1979. The scarring vaccination given now is BCG(TB for cows), to prevent tuberculosis.
As it also infects people with a cow disease as a means of vaccination and leaves a scar, people confuse it with the smallpox vaccination (which contains cowpox).
A couple months sounds like a long time for a reaction. Might it even be a bug bite or an allergic rash or something?
Or the highly unlikely chance of her body refusing to absorb the MSG that’s in the vaccine.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16843115
[quote=“lupillus”]Taiwan stopped small pox vaccinations in 1979. The scarring vaccination given now is BCG(TB for cows), to prevent tuberculosis.
As it also infects people with a cow disease as a means of vaccination and leaves a scar, people confuse it with the smallpox vaccination (which contains cowpox).
A couple months sounds like a long time for a reaction. Might it even be a bug bite or an allergic rash or something?
Or the highly unlikely chance of her body refusing to absorb the MSG that’s in the vaccine.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16843115[/quote]
Interesting. I went to see the doc and he said it was nothing but to keep an eye on it. But I will keep that link handy in case.
So, what kind of vaccination was it?
So, that leaves the BCG vaccine. BCG stands for Bacillus Calmette-Guérin. The BCG vaccine is used to protect people from human tuberculosis.
Interestingly, the BCG vaccine strain was developed from the bacteria that cause tuberculosis in cows. People can catch cow TB by being in close contact with cows or by drinking infected milk.
People will not develop cow TB from the BCG vaccine strain because it is attenuated. Attenuated means it is a weak form without the ability to cause disease. It is better adapted for living in culture dishes than in a living body.
People develop an immune response to the BCG vaccine that provides some protection against severe cases of human TB.
The BCG vaccine also makes people have a positive skin test for TB. There is not any easy way to tell if a person who has a positive TB skin test has been exposed to TB or if it is a reaction to the BCG vaccine.
Because of these issues, the BCG vaccine is routinely used only in countries with high rates of TB. The U.S. has a low rate of TB, whereas it is much higher in Mexico.
As a result, the BCG vaccine is not recommended for routine use in the U.S., whereas it is in Mexico.
The BCG vaccine is given just under the skin. Two to four weeks later, a pustule occurs at the site. The pustule might open and drain.
The size of the scar depends on the amount of inflammation caused by the person’s immune response and the person’s healing ability. People with a tendency to scar or form keloids tend to be those with the most obvious scars.