BCG vaccine: a hope to control COVID-19 pandemic amid crisis

Malik, Yashpal Singh; Ansari, Mohd Ikram; Ganesh, Balasubramanian; Sircar, Shubhankar; Bhat, Sushant; Pande, Tripti; Vinodhkumar, Obli Rajendran; Kumar, Pankaj; Yatoo, Mohd Iqbal; Tiwari, Ruchi; Touil, Nadia; Patel, Shailesh Kumar; Pathak, Mamta; Sharun, Khan; Dhama, Kuldeep

doi:10.1080/21645515.2020.1818522

Cited by 25 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…Accordingly, there is a hypothesis that the substantial differences may be related to the universal BCG vaccination policies of these countries. Several ecological studies analyzed worldwide data before June 2020 and found that even after controlling for important country level factors such as temperature, total population size, population density, proportion of those aged 60 years or above, gross domestic product per capita, healthcare access and quality measures, COVID-19 testing numbers, and stringency level of the nationwide epidemic control policy, the BCG vaccination coverage rate and the total BCG vaccination implementation years among these countries are still significantly inversely correlated with the incidence and mortality of COVID-19 [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whether BCG vaccination could have a beneficial effect against COVID-19 also under intense debate. Several ecological studies did suggest the potential protective effect of the universal BCG vaccination program on reducing COVID-19 morbidity and mortality [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]; some also implied that different BCG strains might vary in their protective ability [14]. In contrast, the inverse relation between COVID-19 disease burden and BCG vaccination was not observed by others [15,16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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COVID-19 Severity and Neonatal BCG Vaccination among Young Population in Taiwan

Chang

Wang

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Background: Data have not been reported to explore the relation between COVID-19 severity and BCG vaccination status at the individual patient level. Methods: Taiwan has a nationwide neonatal BCG vaccination program that was launched in 1965. The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control established a web-based National Immunization Information System (NISS) in 2003 and included all citizens’ BCG vaccination records in NISS for those born after 1985. We identified COVID-19 Taiwanese patients born after 1985 between 21 January and 19 March 2021. Study participants were further classified into ages 4–24 years (birth year 1996–2016) and 25–33 years (birth year 1986–1995). We described their clinical syndrome defined by the World Health Organization and examined the relation between the COVID-19 severity and BCG vaccination status. Results: In the 4–24 age group, among 138 BCG vaccinated individuals, 80.4% were asymptomatic or had mild disease, while 17.4% had moderate disease, 1.5% had severe disease, and 0.7% had acute respiratory distress syndrome but none of them died. In contrast, all 6 BCG unvaccinated individuals in this age group experienced mild illness. In the 25–33 age group, moderate disease occurred in 14.2% and severe disease occurred in 0.9% of the 106 patients without neonatal BCG vaccination records, as compared to 19.2% had moderate disease and none had severe or critical disease of the 78 patients with neonatal BCG vaccination records. Conclusions: Our finding indicated that BCG immunization might not relate to COVID-19 severity in the young population.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 Severity and Neonatal BCG Vaccination among Young Population in Taiwan

Chang

Wang

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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“…Researchers are trying to develop SARS-CoV-2-specific vaccines and therapeutics to counter this pandemic. A few of these candidate vaccines and therapeutics are already undergoing clinical trials and have shown promising results (Haritha et al, 2020;Malik et al, 2020b;Patel et al, 2020). Some of the repurposed drugs include ivermectin, dexamethasone, ebselen etc (Haritha et al, 2020;Sharun et al, 2020c;Sharun et al, 2020d).…”

Section: Severementioning

confidence: 99%

Ivermectin for COVID-19: A broad-spectrum veterinary endectocide with antiviral activity

Sharun

Jose

et al. 2020

JFAS

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Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV 2) is a novel zoonotic coronavirus that has emerged from Wuhan, China. Compared to its predecessors, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoV (SARS CoV) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome CoV (MERS CoV), SARS CoV 2 has exhibited efficient human-to-human transmission. In addition to the efficient human-to-human transmission, SARS CoV 2 is also reported to infect other animal species such as cats, tigers, lions, dogs, and minks. The susceptibility of other felines such as cheetah, puma, jaguar, leopard, and lynx are unknown. The reports of SARS CoV 2 natural infection in animals opens up several opportunities to identify suitable animal models for the evaluation of SARS CoV 2 specific vaccines and therapeutics. Ivermectin is a macrocyclic lactone endectocide that has broad-spectrum anti-parasitic activity. The wonder drug ivermectin was also found to possess anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-cancer activity. The antiviral activity exhibited by ivermectin against SARS CoV 2 is believed to be mediated via targeting the importin α/β-mediated nuclear transport and requires further validation. Since the antiviral activity of ivermectin is through a host-directed mechanism, it can reduce the viral load even if administered at a lower dose. Further studies are required to evaluate the efficacy of ivermectin based on in vivo as well as the clinical trials. Being an FDA approved antiparasitic drug, repurposing it for treating COVID-19 patients will be an easy task once it is found to have therapeutic potential.

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“…At least for now, it seems that Africa will be in completely different situations under the coronavirus infections. Some scientists have cited a higher proportion of young people [1,2], a warmer climate [3], and widespread BCG vaccination [4] as possible factors. While these are positive theories, they do not provide scientific evidence to explain why the spread of new coronavirus infections in Africa appears to be at a slower pace than in other parts of the world.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why COVID-19 is not so spread in Africa: How does Ivermectin affect it?

Tanioka¹,

Tanioka²,

Kaga

2021

Preprint

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Background: Scientists have so far been unable to determine the reason for the low number of COVID-19 cases in Africa. Objective: To evaluate the impact of ivermectin interventions for onchocerciasis on the morbidity, mortality, recovery, and fatality rates caused by COVID-19. Method: A retrospective statistical analysis study of the impact of ivermectin against COVID-19 between the 31 onchocerciasis-endemic countries using the community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI) and the non-endemic 22 countries in Africa. The morbidity, mortality, recovery rate, and fatality rate caused by COVID-19 were calculated from the WHO situation report in Africa. We investigated the onchocerciasis endemic 31 countries and the non-endemic 22 countries. Statistical comparisons used by the Welch test of them in the two groups were made. Results: The morbidity and mortality were statistically significantly less in the 31 countries using CDTI. The recovery and fatality rates were not statistically significant difference. The average life expectancy was statistically significantly higher in the non-endemic countries. Conclusions: The morbidity and mortality in the onchocerciasis endemic countries are lesser than those in the non-endemic ones. The community-directed onchocerciasis treatment with ivermectin is the most reasonable explanation for the decrease in morbidity and fatality rate in Africa. In areas where ivermectin is distributed to and used by the entire population, it leads to a significant reduction in mortality.

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BCG vaccine: a hope to control COVID-19 pandemic amid crisis

Cited by 25 publications

References 80 publications

COVID-19 Severity and Neonatal BCG Vaccination among Young Population in Taiwan

COVID-19 Severity and Neonatal BCG Vaccination among Young Population in Taiwan

Ivermectin for COVID-19: A broad-spectrum veterinary endectocide with antiviral activity

Why COVID-19 is not so spread in Africa: How does Ivermectin affect it?

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