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LOS ANGELES – A widely used tuberculosis vaccine is associated with a reduced likelihood of contracting COVID-19, according to a new study from Cedars-Sinai.
The findings raise the possibility that a vaccine already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could help prevent coronavirus infections or reduce the severity of the disease, Cedars-Sinai said in a statement.
The vaccine, known as Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, or BCG, was developed between 1908 and 1921 and is given to more than 100 million children worldwide each year. In the United States, it is approved by the FDA as a medicine to treat bladder cancer and as a vaccine for people at high risk of contracting tuberculosis. The BCG vaccine is currently being tested in several clinical trials around the world for its effectiveness against COVID-19.
In the new study, published online Nov. 19 in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, investigators tested the blood of more than 6,000 healthcare workers in the Cedars-Sinai healthcare system for anti-SARS-CoV antibodies. -2, the virus responsible for COVID -19, and also asked them about their medical and vaccination history.
They found that workers who had received BCG vaccinations in the past – nearly 30% of those studied – were significantly less likely to test positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in their blood or to report having had. coronavirus infections or symptoms associated with the coronavirus. in the previous six months than those who had not received BCG. These effects were unrelated to whether the workers had been vaccinated against meningococcus, pneumococcus or influenza.
The reasons for the drop in anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels in the BCG group were not clear, according to Dr Moshe Arditi, director of the pediatric and infectious diseases and immunology division at Cedars-Sinai and lead co-author of the study.
“It appears that individuals vaccinated with BCG either were less sick and therefore produced less anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, or they may have mounted a more effective cellular immune response against the virus,” said Arditi, professor of pediatrics and biomedical sciences. “We were interested in studying the BCG vaccine because it has long been known to have a general protective effect against a range of bacterial and viral diseases other than tuberculosis, including neonatal sepsis and respiratory infections.
In the new study, the lower antibody levels in the BCG group persisted despite these people having higher frequencies of hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and COPD, which are known risk factors for be more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 and developing. the most severe forms of COVID-19.
While noting that no one thinks BCG will be more effective than a specific COVID-19 vaccine, Arditi said it could be approved and made available more quickly, given it has a safety profile. solid demonstrated by many years of use.
“This is a potentially important bridge that could provide some benefits until we have the most effective and safe COVID-19 vaccines widely available,” he said.
Dr Susan Cheng, Associate Professor of Cardiology and Director of Public Health Research at the Smidt Heart Institute in Cedars-Sinai and co-lead author of the study, said, “Based on our results, we think big Randomized clinical trials are urgently needed to confirm whether BCG vaccination can induce a protective effect against SARS-CoV2 infection. “
In fact, a number of randomized clinical trials have been initiated to study the potential protective effects of BCG vaccination against COVID-19, according to the Cedars-Sinai release. Together with Texas A&M University, Baylor College of Medicine and MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas, Cedars-Sinai is a site for the US branch of this ongoing trial, which is recruiting hundreds of healthcare workers. . Arditi is the principal investigator of this clinical trial at Cedars-Sinai.
“It would be wonderful if one of the oldest vaccines we have could help defeat the most recent global pandemic,” Arditi said.
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