Why do foreigners get scars at the site of vaccines?!

You are most likely referring to the scar the BCG vaccination leaves. The BCG vaccine is given in most European countries to prevent TB. (It has never been given routinely in the U.S.) It is usually given to children soon after birth. It was also given in the UK and other countries during the teen years often in school clinics but more recently the policy is to only give it to people at high risk, however one can still request the vaccination be given. It is usually given in the upper arm but has also been given on the thigh or shoulder. The BCG vaccination is given either by intradermal injection or the multi-puncture method. Countries may use BCG vaccines made by different manufactures and the vaccines may be of different potency and people react differently to the vaccination thus the scar left from vaccination may differ from person to person....some being hardly noticible to some being slightly indented and the size of a dime to some being much larger. BCG stands for Bacillus Calmette-Guerin, the two researchers who developed the vaccine. The BCG vaccination is aproximatly 80% effective and the duration of protection is aproximatly 15 years. Thus some people may have more than one BCG vaccination scar.

The smallpox vaccine also leaves a scar that can be simular, but routine smallpox vaccination ceased in most countries around 1972. It was typically given in the non-dominant upper arm using a bi-furcated needle with a drop of vaccine on it. The needle pricks the skin 3-15 times in a small area just enough to break the skin and within 3-5 days a blister occurs if the vaccination is successful. The blister scabs over and then the scab falls off in aproximately 2-3 weeks and leaves a circular scar. When the war in Iraq began, there were questions about rogue countries using smallpox as a weapon so the U.S. and other countries began vaccinating military personnel going into high risk areas as well as medical personnel. More smallpox vaccine was purchased and is now stockpiled in case of such an attack. Most anyone in their mid 40's or older has a smallpox vaccination scar. Although vaccination of medical personnel has mostly stopped, the military still vaccinates soldiers going into certain areas.

What you are describing sounds like the scar from the smallpox vaccine, which is not required everywhere. When the vaccine is given, it is generally on the upper arm, and it makes a pretty gross looking wound which heals in a few weeks, leaving that round, dented scar. I'm not sure which countries might still be giving them out to younger people, but in the US, many older people have had the vaccine, but they stopped giving it to the general public in 1972. Younger members of the military may have received the vaccine (my husband was had one a few years ago before he was deployed).

http://dermatology.about.com/cs/smallpox…