BCG Vaccination Paused in North Macedonia; Health Officials Urge Calm
A one‑year supply of BCG from Japan is being procured; officials say TB incidence is low and osteomyelitis after BCG is very rare.
Health authorities in North Macedonia urged calm after the temporary suspension of newborn BCG vaccination while they check several suspected adverse events reported in the region.
Officials emphasised that North Macedonia remains a low‑incidence country for tuberculosis, with about 10 cases per 100,000 inhabitants annually. They also noted that osteomyelitis — inflammation of the bone — is an extremely rare possible reaction to the BCG vaccine, occurring at roughly two cases per million vaccinated children.
At the Clinic for Respiratory Diseases in Children “Kozle”, director Katerina Boshkovska said the institution continues to treat pediatric tuberculosis and that current caseloads are comparable to recent years: “The children who are diagnosed are treated in our institution; last year there were 15 cases, and up to this month we have 12 registered cases — I'm talking about tuberculosis disease. Of course, contacts with tuberculosis come to us, where there is an adult patient in the family most often; we had 35 such cases last year, now there are up to 10 at the moment,” she said.
When parents should seek medical attention
Boshkovska advised parents to watch for local signs that require prompt medical evaluation. “If there is any suspicion, any at all, that the child has swelling of the leg, arm, or foot — that swelling is painful, there is limitation of movement of the limb, or if we notice that the child is favoring the leg, limping when walking — of course they should seek medical help and testing. We are here; everything necessary will be done. However, there is no room for concern; it does not mean that every child who received the vaccine should undergo any tests or imaging because of these cases, since those cases, as we have heard in recent days, are not proven but are suspected,” Boshkovska added.
Suspected post‑vaccination bone inflammation cases were first reported in Croatia, where health authorities registered four notifications. The Bulgarian manufacturer Bul Bio stated that in two children a dose 10 times higher than prescribed may have been administered, while rejecting allegations of a quality problem with the vaccine. Macedonian health authorities said they will investigate the matter.
Meanwhile, the health ministry has ordered a one‑year supply of BCG vaccine from Japan. Until the new shipment arrives, newborns will not receive the BCG vaccine in maternity wards; vaccination will resume immediately when the consignment is delivered.
Photo: press material from the event
