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BCG vaccination against tuberculosis was introduced in 1921 as the only available method of preventing tuberculosis. 100 years later, scientists are testing whether it can boost the immune system in the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Research begins, among others in Australia and the Netherlands. Analyzes show that in countries where TB vaccination is mandatory, the number of deaths from COVID-19 is lower.
BCG vaccination against tuberculosis will be tested in Europe and Australia to prevent the development of dangerous symptoms of COVID-19. In Australia, 4000 healthcare professionals who deal with COVID-19 patients have applied for the study. Similar studies are already being carried out in the Netherlands, Great Britain and Greece.
Why would a vaccine against tuberculosis, which is a bacterial disease, protect against viral infection? “Although the vaccine was originally developed specifically for tuberculosis and continues to be given to more than 130 million children annually, the BCG vaccine also appears to boost immunity by teaching the immune system to respond more intensively to pathogens,” researchers at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne said .
Researchers hope that healthcare professionals will reduce the incidence and severity of COVID-19 symptoms after receiving the BCG vaccine. Kathryn North, director of the Murdoch Institute, said she hopes that improving immunity with the BCG vaccine will give time to develop a specific vaccine against COVID-19.
Tuberculosis Vaccinations and COVID-19 Deaths
Dr. Gonzalo Otazu of the New York Institute of Technology, College of Osteopathic Medicine, who works with scientists around the world, said that COVID-19 deaths per million inhabitants are lower in countries where TB vaccination is common compared to countries that do not have regulation.
WHO recommends one dose of TB vaccine to be given to newborns in countries at high risk of contracting tuberculosis. In Poland, the BCG vaccine has been obligatory since 1955. From 2019, newborns receive it after birth, before discharge from the neonatal department.
In countries such as Germany, Sweden and Finland, BCG vaccination is administered to children at risk, such as the children of workers or immigrants from countries with a high incidence of tuberculosis. As Otazu notes, Italy and the United States – the countries hardest hit by the pandemic at the moment – do not have a universal TB vaccination policy.
Dr. Jakub Sieczko writes extensively about the American study on his Facebook profile. It draws attention to the fact that American researchers have assessed the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 in more than fifty countries. Countries with a population greater than one million inhabitants were considered. The conclusions of the study are that in vaccination countries formerly or currently mandatory for tuberculosis, the number of deaths from COVID-19 is 0,78 per million inhabitants. In countries that have never compulsorily vaccinated against tuberculosis, the rate is much higher – it amounts to 16,39 deaths per million inhabitants. The analysis of the study can be read in the entry below.
American studies on the link between tuberculosis vaccination and the incidence of COVID-19 are interesting and give hope, but have also been criticized.
Criticism of an analysis of US tuberculosis vaccine research
The journal Nature Microbiology Community has published an article written by PhD students from the department of epidemiology at the McGill International TB Center. He is critical of the conclusions of experts that suggest that TB vaccination may be protective against COVID-19.
According to the researchers, it is dangerous to write that there is evidence that a 19-year-old vaccine can boost immunity and provide non-specific protection against other diseases, including COVID-2 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-XNUMX coronavirus, based on data analysis alone.
As a result of further research it may turn out that the BCG vaccine offers protection against COVID-19, but with the current state of knowledge it cannot be said with certainty. The researchers note several mistakes that were made in this study, including to the fact that each country covered by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus transmission is at a different stage of the pandemic. Drawing premature conclusions from rapidly changing data is quite problematic.
Far fewer diagnostic tests for COVID-19 are performed in lower-income countries where TB vaccination is compulsory, making the data incomplete. India, for example, has one of the lowest COVID-19 testing rates in the world. It is also not easy to determine the number of actual deaths due to COVID-19, because, for example, people dying at home may not be tested and will not be included in government records. This makes the data cited by the Americans in the research incomplete.
More answers to the question of whether tuberculosis vaccination can actually protect against COVID-19 or reduce the intensity of symptoms of the disease will come from research to be conducted in Australia and the Netherlands among health care workers.
Up-to-date information on COVID-19. Stay updated:
- Three reasons why we should take the coronavirus pandemic seriously
- How to check if you have been infected with the coronavirus in an asymptomatic way?
- Coronavirus in Poland. Current data
Have a question about the coronavirus? Send them to the following address: [email protected]. You will find a daily updated list of answers HERE: Coronavirus – frequently asked questions and answers
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