BCG, a tuberculosis vaccine which we take in our childhood may be a new hope to fight against coronavirus. A new report indicates that the mortality rate is much less in persons who have been vaccinated with BCG.
Scientists are testing the BCG or Bacille Calmette-Guerin to see if it boosts the immune system to reduce respiratory symptoms in people who get new coronavirus infections.
“There is a lot of evidence to suggest that BCG, used to vaccinate against tuberculosis, reduces mortality not just in newborns but a lot of people who have been vaccinated,” said Ashish Kamat, professor of Urologic Oncology (Surgery) and cancer research at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who was part of the study on whether countries where BCG is administered have a different trajectory of coronavirus infections.
The study noted that while the incidence of COVID-19 in nations with a BCG protocol was 38.4 per million, that of nations without was 358.4 per million. The death rate in nations with a BCG vaccination programme was found to be 4.28 per million, while in countries without the programme, it was 40 per million. The US and other countries without universal policies of BCG vaccination, like Italy and the Netherlands, have been more severely affected compared to countries with universal and long-standing BCG policies.
But doctors in India say “large-scale epidemiological studies” are needed before any conclusion.
