Abstract
We report a case of papular tuberculid after Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination. The patient was an 8-month-old boy who was a preterm infant (gestational age of 33 weeks 3 days) and a low birth weight infant (birth weight 1,838g). He developed red papules at the site of BCG vaccination on the left upper arm approximately 10 days after BCG injection. Three weeks later, red papules spread all over the entire body. The left axillary lymph nodes were swollen, but he had no systemic symptoms. Peripheral blood studies and chest X-ray were normal. Histopathologically, CD68-positive epithelioid cells had assembled in the upper dermis. Special stains and cultures for mycobacteria from papules were negative. We diagnosed this case as papular tuberculid resulting from BCG vaccination. The papules regressed without treatment, but left the mild scars. The side reactions of BCG vaccination in premature infants and low birth weight children have not been clarified, and such reactions need to be considered.Skin Research, 16: 201-204, 2017
