Experts Link BCG Vaccination to the Coronavirus Epidemic

The Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, which is the shot of anti-tuberculosis medicine which is dispensed to masses of children all around the world soon after birth, might be a ‘game-changer’ in the battle against the lethal coronavirus, US scientists claim. The information was distributed by the Economic Times, with quotes from the leading researchers in the field. 

The brutality of coronavirus might be related to ‘national policies on BCG childhood vaccination’, the study, which is about to be published by the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), states, giving the examples of Italy and the US.

"We found that countries without universal policies of BCG vaccination, such as Italy, The Netherlands, and the United States, have been more severely affected compared to countries with universal and long-standing BCG policies," states Gonzalo Otazu, one of the leaders of the research and Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences at NYIT.

The United States has reported almost 190,000 cases with more than 4,000 deaths, while Italy has 105,000 cases and over 12,000 fatalities. The Netherlands, where similarly the BCG vaccine is not used, has reported more than 12,000 cases of the disease and over 1,000 deaths.

"Every small thing gives us a ray of hope. It would be premature to say anything now. But the silver lining is that the BCG vaccine proved quite effective against the SARS infection also," said Monica Gulati, senior dean at the Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences of LPU.

"It was effective not in the sense that it was able to cure, but that it was able to reduce the intensity," Gulati said.

Gulati further noted that the SARS virus is also basically a coronated virus, "Since the current pandemic is less intense in those countries with BCG vaccine intervention and the fact it was effective against another coronavirus, it gives us reason for hope," she concluded.

By B.Alexishvili