science · 22 December 1872 · 153 years ago
birth
Born 22 Dec 1872; died 9 Jun 1961 at age 88.
French bacteriologist who (with Albert Calmette) developed, the tuberculosis vaccine known as Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, or BCG (1921). It was adopted throughout Europe and America against tuberculosis. As a vaccine it is an attenuated (weakened) form of the Mycobacterium bovis bacterium. When injected, it gives partial protection against tuberculosis, by stimulating the body's defence system without causing the disease. A successful vaccination produces a lump at the injection site.
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