–
–
The century-old BCG vaccine seems to have a protective effect against the coronavirus (Covid-19), its degree of deployment in a country being strongly correlated with the mortality of SARS-CoV-2.
According to a study of 22 countries worldwide, published in PNAS and resumed by Sciences and Future, each 10% increase in deployment of the BCG vaccine is associated with a 10.4% reduction in mortality from Covid-19.
However, these published American studies do not allow us to conclude that there is a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the BCG vaccine and Covid-19.
They detail how the BCG vaccine appears to confer largely enhanced immunity to respiratory infections, which may warrant protective action against Covid-19 infection. A possibility already expressed in recent publications.
The study focused on 22 socially comparable countries in the world in terms of elderly population, urban and rural population density. The strong correlation observed between the increase in the deployment of BCG vaccination and that of mortality from Covid-19 takes into account the adjustment for possible differences between countries in terms of level of urbanization, access to health, income, or the stage and magnitude of the pandemic.
The BCG vaccine originally protecting against the Koch bacterium responsible for tuberculosis, it “generates powerful immune stimulation”, Bulgarian professor of immunology Bogdan Petrounov explains to AFP.
But in the absence of direct evidence from clinical trials, this work is not sufficient to recommend the use of BCG for the control and prevention of Covid-19 or other emerging infectious diseases, it is concluded.
–
–
