Correlation between COVID-19 case fatality rate and percentage of BCG vaccination: is it true the vaccine is protective?

Hussein, Aliae A. R. Mohamed; Salem, Marwa Rashad; Salman, Samar; Abdulrahim, Ahmed F.; Massry, Nasrallah A. Al; Saad, Mahmoud; Dahman, Nesrine Ben Hadj; Negida, Ahmed

doi:10.1186/s43168-020-00022-1

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…A study by Hussein et al supports the fact that the BCG vaccination may have a protective role in avoiding severe/critical SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia and thereby decrease fatalities. Moreover, the partial lockdown imposed in Egypt may have aided in inducing an immune response among the population against COVID-19, decreasing the severity of the symptoms during the beginning of the second wave, before the appearance of new virus mutations and/or the waning of immunity 18 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current Status and a Future Perspective of COVID-19 in Egypt: Egyptian Reference Laboratory Experience

Ismail¹,

Mostafa²,

Halim³

et al. 2021

J. Pure Appl. Microbiol.

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Currently, the sole global concern is recurring waves of the COVID-19 virus that began in 2020 and is ongoing. This study aimed to compare the trends of COVID-19 infections in Egypt during the different waves. We calculated the COVID-19 positivity rate between March 2020 and the fourth week of April 2021 among those tested at the Reference Laboratory of the Egyptian University Hospitals. We then compared our results with those obtained from the WHO and the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population websites. A dramatic increase in the positivity rate was observed during May and June 2020 (26.35% and 33.11%, respectively). This was followed by an abrupt reduction in July (11.7%), and flattening until a second increase was noted during November (9.6%), which reached its peak during December (17.8%). However, after the figures declined during January 2021, they began to rise again in February 2021 and continued to increase until the end of April 2021, simulating the first wave data. The analysis of the COVID-19 growth rate from April 1st to the 25th, 2021 revealed a slight downward trend in new cases. Data from both the WHO and the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population websites showed similar patterns to our results. The third wave of COVID-19 started in Egypt. Analyzing future data can aid in forecasting the COVID-19 epidemic and allow us to use foresight to enact effective measures and strategies to keep this virus under control.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current Status and a Future Perspective of COVID-19 in Egypt: Egyptian Reference Laboratory Experience

Ismail¹,

Mostafa²,

Halim³

et al. 2021

J. Pure Appl. Microbiol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…It has been hypothesized that BCGvaccination could associate with decreased disease severity and lethality during COVID-19 worldwide (158). The lethality reported by COVID-19 in countries with BCG vaccination is about 5.8 times lower than countries without the BCG vaccination program (159). Equivalent suggestions have been made by other studies supporting the notion of using the BCG vaccine to prevent severe COVID-19 at least in the most vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and healthcare personnel (160,161).…”

Section: Trained Immunity and Sars-cov-2 Infectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SARS-CoV-2: Immune Response Elicited by Infection and Development of Vaccines and Treatments

et al. 2020

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The World Health Organization (WHO) announced in March a pandemic caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This new infectious disease was named Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19), and at October 2020, more than 39,000,000 cases of SARS-CoV-2 have been detected worldwide leading to near 1,100,000 deaths. Clinically, COVID-19 is characterized by clinical manifestations, such as fever, dry cough, headache, and in more severe cases, respiratory distress. Moreover, neurological-, cardiac-, and renal-related symptoms have also been described. Clinical evidence suggests that migration of immune cells to the affected organs can produce an exacerbated release of proinflammatory mediators that contribute to disease and render the immune response as a major player during the development of the COVID-19 disease. Due to the current sanitary situation, the development of vaccines is imperative. Up to the date, 42 prototypes are being tested in humans in different clinical stages, with 10 vaccine candidates undergoing evaluation in phase III clinical trials. In the same way, the search for an effective treatment to approach the most severe cases is also in constant advancement. Several potential therapies have been tested since COVID-19 was described, including antivirals, antiparasitic and immune modulators. Recently, clinical trials with hydroxychloroquine—a promising drug in the beginning—were suspended. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved convalescent serum administration as a treatment for SARS-CoV-2 patients. Moreover, monoclonal antibody therapy is also under development to neutralize the virus and prevent infection. In this article, we describe the clinical manifestations and the immunological information available about COVID-19 disease. Furthermore, we discuss current therapies under study and the development of vaccines to prevent this disease.

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“…The protective effect of the BCG vaccine against Mtb is not lasting long and decreases with time. Therefore, making a precise estimate for BCG efficacy is very difficult and needs extensive validation before reaching a concrete conclusion [ 99 , 100 , 101 ].…”

Section: Induction Of the Activation Of Trained Immunitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Fiction and Facts about BCG Imparting Trained Immunity against COVID-19

et al. 2022

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The Bacille Calmette-Guérin or BCG vaccine, the only vaccine available against Mycobacterium tuberculosis can induce a marked Th1 polarization of T-cells, characterized by the antigen-specific secretion of IFN-γ and enhanced antiviral response. A number of studies have supported the concept of protection by non-specific boosting of immunity by BCG and other microbes. BCG is a well-known example of a trained immunity inducer since it imparts ‘non-specific heterologous’ immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for the recent pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 continues to inflict an unabated surge in morbidity and mortality around the world. There is an urgent need to devise and develop alternate strategies to bolster host immunity against the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) and its continuously emerging variants. Several vaccines have been developed recently against COVID-19, but the data on their protective efficacy remains doubtful. Therefore, urgent strategies are required to enhance system immunity to adequately defend against newly emerging infections. The concept of trained immunity may play a cardinal role in protection against COVID-19. The ability of trained immunity-based vaccines is to promote heterologous immune responses beyond their specific antigens, which may notably help in defending against an emergency situation such as COVID-19 when the protective ability of vaccines is suspicious. A growing body of evidence points towards the beneficial non-specific boosting of immune responses by BCG or other microbes, which may protect against COVID-19. Clinical trials are underway to consider the efficacy of BCG vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 on healthcare workers and the elderly population. In this review, we will discuss the role of BCG in eliciting trained immunity and the possible limitations and challenges in controlling COVID-19 and future pandemics.

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Correlation between COVID-19 case fatality rate and percentage of BCG vaccination: is it true the vaccine is protective?

Cited by 11 publications

References 13 publications

Current Status and a Future Perspective of COVID-19 in Egypt: Egyptian Reference Laboratory Experience

Current Status and a Future Perspective of COVID-19 in Egypt: Egyptian Reference Laboratory Experience

SARS-CoV-2: Immune Response Elicited by Infection and Development of Vaccines and Treatments

Fiction and Facts about BCG Imparting Trained Immunity against COVID-19

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