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Woman, 30, Develops Severe Case Of 'world's Most Deadly Infection' After She Was Given WRONG 'MMR' Vaccine
A WOMAN developed a severe case of the world's most deadly infection after accidentally being given the wrong vaccine.
The "healthy" 30-year-old woman visited a clinic in Ireland to get her measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab.
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A woman was infected with tuberculosis after a vaccine mix-upCredit: Case ReportsBut a bungling medic mixed up the vaccines and gave her a shot of the vaccine against tuberculosis (TB) - unwittingly infecting with her one of the world's most deadly diseases.
Known as the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, it's typically given to babies and young children to protect them against getting TB.
It involves injecting a weakened form of Mycobacterium bovis - the bacteria that causes TB - diluted in saline under the skin of the upper arm.
But because the medic thought they were giving the woman an MMR jab, they injected it into the muscle of her arm.
The BCG vaccine contains bacteria, not viruses like the MMR shot, so injecting it into the muscle allowed the bug to spread unchecked instead of giving her immunity, leading to infection in her deltoid muscle.
The woman developed an oozing boil at the injection site and was left battling an infection for months.
TB, dubbed the 'world's deadliest infection', is a debilitating bacterial infection often linked to the Victorian era, when it was called "consumption" due to the way it seemed to slowly waste away the body.
But even today it persists, killing around 1.25 million people globally each year.
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It usually affects the lungs but can infect other parts of the body too, including the skin, glands, bones and nervous system.
How getting vaccinated protects the most vulnerable among usIt's very unlikely that people will get complications from the BCG vaccine - especially if it's administered correctly.
In rare cases, children and people with weakened immune systems might develop abscesses at the injection site or scarring.
"Studies have shown that 0.001 per cent of intradermal BCG vaccinations resulted in local complications in immunocompetent patients," researchers wrote in a paper published to the American Journal of Case Reports.
"Factors such as the incorrect route of administration and an immunocompromised patient can increase the risk of complications from the BCG vaccine."
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Microscope images of the TB cultures from the woman's abscessCredit: Case ReportsThe 30-year-old woman, with no past medical history, visited an outpatient clinic after it was recommended she get the MMR jab.
"She mistakenly received the BCG vaccine intramuscularly inher left deltoid, and this error went unnoticed," the case report authors observed.
"One week later, she started to developed pain, swelling,and redness at the injection site on her shoulder."
Medics who examined her at first suspected she had cellulitis - a bacterial skin infection affecting the deeper layers of the skin - and gave her a seven day course of antibiotics.
But when her symptoms still persisted two weeks after her jab, the woman received a MRI scan, which showed a lesion in her arm muscle.
A second scan two weeks after that showed that the lesion had swelled to an abscess and was filled with 15ml of fluid.
The tuberculosis symptoms to watch out for
TB is a potentially serious condition, but it can be cured if it's treated with the right antibiotics.
It normally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body, including the bones, brain, lymph glands, kidneys, spine, skin, and stomach.
If you have TB in your lungs, the most common symptoms are:
If you have TB in other parts of your body, you may have symptoms such as:
Source: Asthma and Lung UK
Baffled medics extracted samples from the lesion, struggling to identify the culprit.
Meanwhile, the woman's shoulder started to ooze "yellow, purulent discharge".
Tests of the pus finally revealed that the woman was battling a TB infection, as it came back positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
A chest X-ray confirmed that her lungs were unaffected by the infection and no further lesions were found.
The patient was given anti-TB meds two months after mistakenly receiving the vaccine.
"The initial treatment was effective, and she recovered fully and reported no further symptoms six months after initiation of the anti-tuberculosis treatment," the report authors said.
"Another MRI scan was done during a followup three months after completion of anti-tuberculosis treatment, revealing a significant decrease in size of the BCG deltoid abscess."
They concluded: "Administration of the BCG vaccine intramuscularly is commonly the result of an error and can lead to rare and preventable complications, even in immunocompetent patients.
"On the other hand, the MMR vaccine is normally given intramuscularly to patients.
"A reasonable explanation for the error in this case is that the healthcare professional administering the vaccine confused the BCG vaccine for the MMR vaccine and injected it intramuscularly.
"Furthermore, this case demonstrates a complication of erroneous intramuscular administration of the BCG vaccine; only a few cases ofthis type of incident have been recorded in the literature."
The authors said that "proper training in vaccine injection technique" was key to preventing BCG jab complications such as the ones detailed in the report.
"Implementing measures to confirm the correct vaccine andmode of administration for the patient before vaccine injection would also prevent future errors, as occurred in this case," they added.
Should You Get A Measles Vaccine Booster? Here's What To Know.
ToplineAs measles continues to spread through the U.S. With outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico and cases being reported in Washington, D.C., and 16 other states, experts advise people to ensure they're vaccinated against the illness and note some may want to get booster shots. (For more information on measles outbreaks, check our measles outbreak tracker.)
Boxes and vials of the Measles, Mumps, Rubella Virus Vaccine at a vaccine clinic put on by Lubbock ... More Public Health Department on March 1, 2025 in Lubbock, Texas.
Getty Images Key FactsThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises the best way to protect against measles is to get the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine or the measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) shot, which are often administered to children in two doses when they are between 12 and 15 months and again when they are between four- and six-years-old.
The CDC says most people who get either vaccination are "protected for life," and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases says most vaccinated adults do not need boosters to protect against measles.
The NFID and CDC recommend that if you are unsure of immunity or vaccination status, it is safest to get a measles vaccine as there is "no harm in getting another dose if you may already be immune."
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Who Should Get Another Dose Of Measles Vaccine?The only group the CDC recommends should get another dose of the measles vaccine is "people vaccinated prior to 1968 with either inactivated (killed) measles vaccine or measles vaccine of unknown type." The CDC recommends those people get at least one dose of a new measles vaccine as the vaccine available from 1963 to 1967 was not effective.
Should Anyone Not Get Vaccinated For Measles?The CDC advises people not to get the vaccine or check with their healthcare provider before getting it if they have previously had an allergic reaction to a dose of the vaccine, are pregnant, have a weakened immune system or have had other vaccines recently. The full list of people who should wait to get vaccinated is available at the CDC website.
Is The Measles Vaccine Safe?Yes, medical experts say the vaccine is extremely safe and effective. People with two MMR shots are estimated to be about 97% protected from measles, and most people who are vaccinated will never get the illness, according to Yale Medicine. The CDC also states the vaccine usually only has mild side effects that go away on their own—including soreness where the shot was given, fever, rash or temporary pain and stiffness—and there is no link between the vaccine and autism.
Big Number95%. That's how many of the confirmed cases in 2025 have been in people who were unvaccinated or did not know their vaccination status. Just 2% of cases have been in people who had two doses of the vaccine, and 3% in those who had one dose.
Is Measles Spreading In The U.S.?Yes. As of March 20, the CDC reported there were 378 confirmed cases of measles nationwide across 18 states, and that 90% of the confirmed cases have been associated with three reported outbreaks. More than 300 of the cases have been reported in Texas, according to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, and 43 have been reported in New Mexico, according to its health department.
Which States Have Reported Measles Cases?The CDC said cases have been confirmed in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont and Washington.
Further ReadingMeasles Outbreak: Cases Near 330 In Texas As Illness Reported In Washington, D.C. (Forbes)
Measles Vaccination (CDC)
Families Are Asking Doctors If Kids Can Get The Measles Vaccine Ahead Of Schedule. Here's What To Know.
The CDC recommends children get the first dose of the MMR vaccine, which includes protection against measles, mumps, and rubella, when they are between 12 and 15 months old. The second dose is given when children are between the ages 4 and 6. Recently, parents have been asking if their kids can get the first shot before they turn 1 or the second shot before they're 4, pediatricians said.
"Our nurses are being inundated with calls from families," said Pring, who is also a pediatrician at a clinic in Boston and at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Somerville resident and mom Emily Hwang got her 2-year-old daughter her first measles vaccine when she was 1, on the recommended schedule. But the recent outbreak of measles led Hwang to get her daughter the second dose two years early.
"I contacted my pediatrician and asked, with the measles epidemic happening now, should I be doing something?" Hwang said. She added, "The doctor said it was safe for her to get a second one, and she recommended it."
Despite the surge in cases, experts said they still advise parents to vaccinate children on the CDC schedule unless they are traveling to areas with outbreaks. If parents do decide to give their kids the first vaccine dose before they turn 1, it would offer temporary protection but wouldn't count toward the two-vaccine series.
That's because before the age of one, a child's immune system is still developing, and a shot given that early isn't considered sufficient to provide long-term protection.
"A truly early dose is between 6 and 11 months, but we're not recommending that unless someone is going to an area with an outbreak," said Dr. Vandana Madhavan, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and primary care pediatrician at Mass General Hospital for Children.
Dr. Shirley Huang, chief of general pediatrics at Tufts Medical Center, said questions about early vaccination are increasingly coming from families who aren't traveling but are still concerned about exposure at day care or from people coming to visit from other states.
"What we're doing is asking for potential exposures if they are traveling, if they're traveling to states within the US with higher risk," Huang said. "We might recommend it at that point, but we're not recommending it to everybody."
Amy, a mom of two who lives outside Providence, R.I., is getting her 8-month-old daughter her first vaccine early, even though it won't count toward the two-dose series. Amy asked that her last name not be used for privacy reasons.
"We travel a decent amount, and we weighed the costs and benefits, and it seemed like the right move to get it now and get that protection for our little one," she said. Her 3-year-old got her first vaccine on schedule, and because it offers significant protection, Amy said the family isn't as concerned about her getting her second shot early but still wants to ask her pediatrician about it.
The first dose provides 93 percent protection from measles; the second dose boosts measles protection to 97 percent, according to the CDC.
"It doesn't feel super likely [that they'll get measles], but it also feels like the risk and the potential downsides are just so high that it feels like an easy thing to do to reduce that risk from nothing to zero," Amy said.
The second vaccine can be administered 28 days after the first dose, when the first dose is given after the age of 1. But the CDC recommends that it be given at 4 years old, because at that point, kids can receive a combined vaccine for MMR and varicella, or chicken pox.
"Historically, it's been at age 4 just to capture multiple different vaccines so we're not piecemeal giving, 'Here's this booster at 3, here's a booster at 3 1/2, etc,' and just doing a 4-year visit for a combination of vaccines," Madhavan said, adding that that age also coincides with when a child is likely to need other vaccinations to start kindergarten.
The CDC recommends a child's first MMR dose be given with a varicella vaccine, though separately and at different injection sites, Pring said. For the second dose, parents can choose between a child receiving one shot that protects against both MMR and varicella, or MMRV, or receiving the two vaccines separately.
"We typically don't [give the combination vaccine] to infants and young toddlers because of a higher rate of fevers and seizures with the combination vaccine," Madhavan said. Still, the risk of febrile seizure — a seizure caused by a high fever — is only 0.08 percent in children age 12-23 months old when they receive a combination vaccine. After a child turns 4, there is no difference in risk between the two options.
Madhavan said there is no downside to separately administering the second MMR dose 28 days from the first; it still offers generally life-long protection from measles.
"Certainly, if someone is traveling internationally or traveling to an area in the US with an outbreak and it's been four weeks since the first dose, we certainly recommend giving the second dose early," she added.
If a child does just get that first vaccine early out of precaution, experts said it's likely to reduce the severity of illness.
"There's significant protection, but this is why we need everybody to be vaccinated — so that if there is someone who is in that 5 percent that doesn't respond [to the vaccine], that they're not picking it up from someone else," Pring said.
Emily Spatz can be reached at emily.Spatz@globe.Com. Follow her on X @emilymspatz.
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