LESS MYSTERIOUS NOW: The TB Vaccine Mysteriously Protects Against Lots of Things. Now We Know Why. “It’s not just the BCG vaccine that makes the innate immune system hyperresponsive. Other live attenuated vaccines that use a weakened form of the virus to protect against diseases such as polio, measles, and smallpox have a similar effect. . . . In countries where infant mortality is high, vaccinating against tuberculosis, measles, or smallpox may have a beneficial effect in protecting infants against a range of other infections. In an Australian context where babies rarely die of infectious diseases, there is greater interest in the potential use of the BCG vaccine to prevent allergies and eczema in kids, Novakovic said.”