UK to begin trials to test if anti-TB BCG vaccine works against COVID-19

 Scientists in UK will begin recruiting frontline healthcare workers to test if an old vaccine used to combat tuberculosis (TB), Bacillus Calmette-Guerin or BCG jab, can be repurposed to help boost immunity against vel coronavirus as well.

University of Exeter in south-west England said on Sunday that it is leing UK arm of worldwide research called BCG vaccination to Reduce impact of COVID-19 in healthcare workers (BRACE) trial.

Participants will be given eir BCG vaccine, currently given to more than 100 million babies worldwide each year, including in India, to protect against TB, or a placebo injection. BCG vaccine boosts immunity by “training” immune system to respond to or subsequent infections with greater intensity. Researchers hope this improved “innate immunity” will buy crucial time to develop an effective and safe vaccine against COVID-19.

“COVID-19 has killed more than a million people globally, with well over 33 million people acquiring disease, sometimes in its severest forms. BCG has been shown to boost immunity in a generalised way, which may offer some protection against COVID-19,” said Professor John Campbell from Exeter University, who is UK le for BRACE study.

We're excited to be contributing to large-scale, international BRACE study where we are seeking to establish wher BCG vaccine could help protect people who are at risk of COVID-19. If it does, we could save lives by ministering or topping up this reily available and cost-effective vaccination,he said.In UK, routine BCG vaccination – which dates as far back as 1920s – was stopped in 2005 because of low rates of TB in general population.

Previous studies suggest that BCG vaccine could reduce susceptibility to a range of infections caused by viruses including those similar to vel coronavirus causing COVID-19. Examining mechanism by which this may work is part of trial being conducted by BRACE researchers. UK arm of trial is initially recruiting care home and healthcare workers in south-west of England, who can attend clinics in Exeter. It is targeting se professionals because y work in fields with high exposure to COVID-19 and is specifically looking at wher BCG vaccine reduces coronavirus infection or COVID-19 symptom severity.

Prof. Campbell ded: People on COVID-19 frontline, including healthcare workers and care home workers, are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus infection. Up until w, care home workers have been overlooked by most research.

BRACE trial provides us with a great opportunity to offer potential help to this important group of individuals who are providing healthcare to some of our most vulnerable citizens in important community settings. university said that UK trial will be conducted by Exeter Clinical Trials Unit and supported by local National Institute for Health Research funded Clinical Research Facility.Lynne Quinn, Operations Director of Exeter CTU, said trial is initially seeking to recruit 1,000 participants who work in care homes and or community healthcare settings.

first wave of recruitment will take place in and around Exeter, and we have exciting plans to expand to or sites across UK, so we hope to be expanding our recruitment numbers at a later st,she said. UK joins study being coordinated by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne, Australia, with centres in Australia, Nerlands, Spain, and Brazil as part of largest trial of its kind.

Toger, trial will recruit more than 10,000 healthcare staff and has received more than USD 10 million from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to allow its global expansion, with Peter Sowerby Foundation supporting Exeter University trial site in Britain.

Professor Nigel Curtis, global le of BRACE trial at MCRI in Australia, said: “We are delighted that UK is joining this international trial to help determine if we can repurpose an existing safe vaccine to reduce impact of COVID-19 in healthcare workers, including those working in care homes who are at particular risk.”

Participants will be asked to complete a daily symptom diary via an app, be tested for COVID-19 whenever y have symptoms, complete regular questionnaires and provide blood samples. se samples will allow scientists to understand how blood cells respond differently to exposure to COVID-19 and or viruses, with and without BCG vaccine.