Home > Living well and staying healthy > Vaccination > Vaccination life stages > Vaccinations for children >

BCG (TB) vaccination

This page has links to information in other languages.

The BCG vaccination is used to help prevent people getting tuberculosis (TB).

TB isn't common in New Zealand so BCG vaccinations aren't routinely given. The Ministry of Health recommends that children under 5 who have a higher risk of catching TB should get the BCG vaccine. The BCG vaccine is free for those children.

Children have a higher risk of catching TB if they:

will be living with someone who has TB or has had TB
have a parent, household member or carer who has lived for six months or longer in a country with high rates of TB, sometime within the last five years
will be living for three months or longer in a country with high rates of TB before they're 5 years old.

Countries with high rates of TB include:

most of Africa
much of South America
Russia and the former Soviet states
the Indian subcontinent
China, including Hong Kong
Taiwan (ROC)
South East Asia (except Singapore)
some Pacific nations (except the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau and Tonga).

The best time for the vaccination is within a few days of birth. Your child can be vaccinated any time if they're under 5. But if they're older than 6 months, they need to be tested before being vaccinated. The test is called the Mantoux test. It tests if your child has been exposed to TB.

Your midwife or GP should tell you if your child should be vaccinated. Talk to one of them if you think your child has a higher risk of catching TB.

HealthInfo recommends the following pages