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. 2022 Jan 14;7:6. doi: 10.1038/s41541-021-00421-5

Table 2.

Clinical features of BCG local adverse reactions.

Injection site abscess Any BCG dose First BCG BCG revaccinated p value
n = 41 n = 10 n = 31
Clinical features
 Time to onset, days 20 (3–45) 27 (12–45) 16 (3–41) 0.008
 Maximum size, cm 2 (1.5–5.0) 2.5 (1.5–5.0) 2 (1.5–4.5) 0.12
 Abscess with discharge 41 (100%) 10 (100%) 31 (100%)
 Abscess with persistent discharge (>2w) 24 (59%) 5 (50%) 19 (61%) 0.39
 Abscess with pain/tenderness at site 40 (98%) 10 (100%) 30 (97%)
Management
 Observation 34 (83%) 7 (70%) 27 (87%)
 Maximum size, cm 2 (1.5–5.0) 2 (1.5–5.0) 2 (1.5–4.0)
 Time to resolution, days 27 (2–243) 28 (8–81) 22 (2–243) 0.43
 Antimicrobial only 5 (12%) 2 (20%) 3 (10%)
 Topical antibiotic (mupirocin) 1 0 1
 Maximum size, cm 2.5 2.5
 Time to resolution, days 28 28
 Oral antibiotics (cephalexin/flucloxacillin) 2 1 1
 Maximum size, cm 3.5 5.0 2.0
 Time to resolution, days 15 (8–21) 8 21
 Oral isoniazid 2 1 1
 Maximum size, cm 4.3 (4.0–4.5) 4.0 4.5
 Time to resolution, days 131 113 149
  Fine needle aspiration + cephalexin 2 (5%) 1 (10%) 1 (3%)
 Maximum size, cm 2.0 (2.0–2.0) 2.0 2.0
 Time to resolution, days 43 (30–56) 56 30
Lymphadenopathy Any BCG dose First BCG BCG revaccinated p value
n = 48 n = 18 n = 30
Clinical features
 Time to onset, days 6 (1–56) 6 (1–56) 6 (1–42) 0.29
 Maximum size, cm 1.8 (0.5–4.0) 1.8 (0.5–4.0) 1.5 (0.5–3.0) 0.46
 No. (%) with pain/tenderness at site 30 (63%) 14 (78%) 16 (53%) 0.13
 Time to resolution, days 4 (1–30) 6 (1–30) 3 (1–14) 0.47

Categorical variables are reported as number (%), continuous variables are reported as median (range).