Considering BCG vaccination to reduce the impact of COVID-19

In addition to its specific effect against tuberculosis, the BCG vaccine has beneficial nonspecific (off-target) effects on the immune system that protect against a wide range of other infections and are used routinely to treat bladder cancer.1,2 This has led to the suggestion that vaccination with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Lancet (British edition) Vol. 395; no. 10236; pp. 1545 - 1546
Main Authors: Curtis, Nigel, Sparrow, Annie, Ghebreyesus, Tedros A, Netea, Mihai G
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Elsevier Ltd 16.05.2020
Elsevier Limited
Subjects:
Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine
BCG
BCG Vaccine
Betacoronavirus
Bladder
Children
Coronaviridae
Coronavirus Infections
Coronaviruses
Correspondence
COVID-19
Ecological effects
Ecological studies
Health care
Humans
Immune system
Immunity, Heterologous
Immunization
Infant mortality
Infections
Mortality
Neonates
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral
Public health
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
Respiratory diseases
Respiratory tract
Respiratory tract diseases
RNA viruses
SARS-CoV-2
Sepsis
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Tuberculosis
Vaccination
Vaccines
Viral diseases
Viruses
Netherlands
ISSN:0140-6736, 1474-547X, 1474-547X
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:In addition to its specific effect against tuberculosis, the BCG vaccine has beneficial nonspecific (off-target) effects on the immune system that protect against a wide range of other infections and are used routinely to treat bladder cancer.1,2 This has led to the suggestion that vaccination with BCG might have a role in protecting health-care workers and other vulnerable individuals against severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In Guinea-Bissau, a high-mortality setting, BCG-Danish reduced all-cause neonatal mortality by 38% (95% CI 17–54), mainly because there were fewer deaths from pneumonia and sepsis.3 In South Africa, BCG-Danish reduced respiratory tract infections by 73% (95% CI 39–88) in adolescents.4 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a single-stranded positive-sense RNA virus, and the BCG vaccine has been shown to reduce the severity of infections by other viruses with that structure in controlled trials. [...]whether BCG will be effective remains unknown: findings from the ecological studies suggesting less COVID-19 in countries with routine BCG immunisation are weak evidence because they are based on population rather than individual data and are prone to confounding.11 Also, it is unlikely that a BCG vaccine given decades ago in childhood will ameliorate COVID-19 now.
Bibliography:SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Correspondence-1
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ISSN:0140-6736
1474-547X
1474-547X
DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31025-4