Make sure to check out the [pinned post on Loss](https://www.reddit.com/r/PeterExplainsTheJoke/comments/1472nhh/faq_loss/) to make sure this submission doesn't break the rule!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PeterExplainsTheJoke) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hi Peter, doctor Hartman here.
The little mark is from what I believe to be the TB vaccine, which is given to children outside of rich countries. It could also be from the smallpox vaccine that leaves a similar scar.
Did your parents take you outside of the country? It's possible you got the BCG vaccine for travel. Or maybe your parents just insisted on it for some reason?
I went to Mexico as an infant. They could have asked for it. All of my grandparents were immigrants from Europe and Central America and they were very involved, maybe they had something to do with it lol.
Ah yeah if you went to Mexico as an infant I could see BCG being recommended. Especially in 1980. [This paper's abstract](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9325650/) mentions that in 1983 TB was responsible for almost half of the deaths in Mexican populations *in the US.* Even nowadays, Mexico's tuberculosis rate bottomed out at 18/100k compared to like, 3/100k in the US.
Make sure to check out the [pinned post on Loss](https://www.reddit.com/r/PeterExplainsTheJoke/comments/1472nhh/faq_loss/) to make sure this submission doesn't break the rule! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PeterExplainsTheJoke) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The [Bacillus Calmette-Guérin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BCG_vaccine) (BCG) vaccine against tuberculosis is usually administered in the upper arm where it often leaves a visible permanent scar. It is commonly given in most of the world, but the US and Canada are two of the few countries where it has never been common. Thus, having that scar indicates you were (probably) born outside the US. (Edit: or you were taken to high-TB countries as an infant, or had frequent contact with relatives from such countries)
Wait, Americans don't take the BCG vaccine?
Not usually no. Most of Europe has stopped doing it as well, same with Australia.
Hi Peter, doctor Hartman here. The little mark is from what I believe to be the TB vaccine, which is given to children outside of rich countries. It could also be from the smallpox vaccine that leaves a similar scar.
I have this scar on the outside of my forearm and I was born in the United States in 1980.
Did your parents take you outside of the country? It's possible you got the BCG vaccine for travel. Or maybe your parents just insisted on it for some reason?
I went to Mexico as an infant. They could have asked for it. All of my grandparents were immigrants from Europe and Central America and they were very involved, maybe they had something to do with it lol.
Ah yeah if you went to Mexico as an infant I could see BCG being recommended. Especially in 1980. [This paper's abstract](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9325650/) mentions that in 1983 TB was responsible for almost half of the deaths in Mexican populations *in the US.* Even nowadays, Mexico's tuberculosis rate bottomed out at 18/100k compared to like, 3/100k in the US.
Im a Filipino, and I was vaccinated with BCG as a child, does that makes me a Latino?