Tuberculosis vaccine may reduce coronavirus-related deaths: Study

As research around the COVID-19 vaccine continues, researchers have now suggested that tuberculosis vaccine may play a role in reducing virus-related deaths. According to a study published in ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America’, the researchers made the link to Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) after comparing data of coronavirus mortality rates across the globe. The preliminary study found that regions with lower deaths rates had one thing in common, a TB vaccination programme. 

The researchers from the US-based National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health found that several Latin American regions, including Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and Mexico City, had considerably lower death rates than states in the US such as New York, Illinois, Louisiana and Florida. The scientists noted that some European countries like Germany also had surprising results. 

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Carolina Barillas-Mury, who is the co-author of the research, said, “This is remarkable, considering that parts Latin America have much higher population densities than the North American states analysed, including New York”. 

Death rate lower due to TB Vaccine programme 

While it was noted that death rate from COVID-19 was 2.9 times higher among people from former West Germany than those in former East Germany, the scientists also informed that mortality rate was four times higher in Italy than in Finland. As per the study, the place where death rates were lower varies in terms of age distribution, incomes, health care access, however, the researchers said they all had TB vaccine programme in common. 

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The researchers noted that former East Germany began inoculating children against TB a decade earlier than in the West. Scientists said that this means older Germans in the eastern parts if the country were likely to have been given the vaccine. After thorough research in Latin America and some European countries, the scientist estimated that a 10 per cent increase in TB vaccine coverage could lead to a 10 per cent reduction in deaths from the deadly COVID-19. 

While the new study challenged the World Health Organisation’s position on the TB Vaccine, it also said, “The consistent association between BCG vaccination and reduced severity of COVID-19 observed in these and other epidemiological explorations are remarkable, but not sufficient to establish causality between BCG vaccination and protection from severe COVID-19”. 

(Image: AP) 

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