As TB cases fell in the late 20th century, several higher-income countries in Europe dropped their universal BCG policies between 1963 and 2010.
New Delhi: The Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, administered to millions of Indian children soon after birth to protect against tuberculosis, could be a "game-changer" in the fight against the deadly coronavirus, say US scientists. The severity of coronavirus impact may be linked to national policies on BCG childhood vaccination, the yet to be published study from the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) states while citing 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," noted the researchers led by Gonzalo Otazu, assistant professor of biomedical sciences at NYIT.
While the US has reported almost 1,90,000 cases with more than 4,000 deaths, Italy has 1,05,000 cases and over 12,000 fatalities. Netherlands has reported more than 12,000 cases of the disease and over 1,000 deaths.
According to the study, a combination of reduced morbidity and mortality could make the BCG vaccination a game-changer in the fight against coronavirus.
The BCG vaccine is part of India's universal immunisation programme and administered to millions of children at birth or soon after it.
It is the live weakened form of mycobacterium bovis -- the causative agent of tuberculosis in cattle -- related to mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria which causes tuberculosis in humans.
India, with the world's highest TB burden, introduced BCG mass immunisation in 1948.
Indian experts said they were hopeful and encouraged but it was too early to say anything.
"Every small thing gives us a ray of hope. It will be premature to say anything now. But the silver lining is that the BCG vaccine has proved quite effective against the SARS infection also," Monica Gulati, senior dean, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Lovely Professional University (LPU), Punjab, told.
"It was effective not in the sense that it was able to cure, but it was able to reduce the intensity," Gulati said.
Gulati explained that the SARS virus is also basically a "coronated virus".
"So since the current pandemic is less intense in the countries with BCG vaccine intervention and that it was effective against another coronavirus is reason for hope," she said.
In the absence of any vaccine for COVID-19, this is an encouraging development. However, it will take some time and tests to understand how the TB vaccine works against coronavirus, added Deepak Verma of the department of Internal Medicine, Columbia Asia Hospital, Ghaziabad.
"As of now, isolation and quarantine are the only established way to prevent a coronavirus infection," Verma said.
No comments:
Post a Comment