TY - JOUR
T1 - COVID-19 death and BCG vaccination programs worldwide
AU - Dallal Bashi, Yahya H
AU - Jirjees, Feras J
AU - Al-Obaidi, Hala J
PY - 2020/9/4
Y1 - 2020/9/4
N2 - Several clinical trials are being conducted worldwide to investigate the protective effect of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine against death in healthcare providers who are working directly with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Clinical studies suggested that certain live vaccines, particularly BCG vaccine, could reduce the mortality due to other diseases caused by non-targeted pathogens, most probably through what is known as non-specific effects (heterologous effects). The most recent available information on the COVID-19 pandemic indicated the great effect of BCG vaccine in reducing the number of COVID-19 death cases. The occurrence of death due to COVID-19 was found to be 21-fold lower in countries with a national BCG vaccination policy than in countries without such a policy, based on the medians of COVID-19 death case per 1 million of population in these two groups of countries (P<0.0001, Mann-Whitney test). Therefore, it can be concluded that the early establishment of BCG vaccination policy in any country is a key element in reducing the number of COVID-19 and tuberculosis death cases.
AB - Several clinical trials are being conducted worldwide to investigate the protective effect of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine against death in healthcare providers who are working directly with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Clinical studies suggested that certain live vaccines, particularly BCG vaccine, could reduce the mortality due to other diseases caused by non-targeted pathogens, most probably through what is known as non-specific effects (heterologous effects). The most recent available information on the COVID-19 pandemic indicated the great effect of BCG vaccine in reducing the number of COVID-19 death cases. The occurrence of death due to COVID-19 was found to be 21-fold lower in countries with a national BCG vaccination policy than in countries without such a policy, based on the medians of COVID-19 death case per 1 million of population in these two groups of countries (P<0.0001, Mann-Whitney test). Therefore, it can be concluded that the early establishment of BCG vaccination policy in any country is a key element in reducing the number of COVID-19 and tuberculosis death cases.
U2 - 10.4046/trd.2020.0063
DO - 10.4046/trd.2020.0063
M3 - Article
C2 - 32883062
JO - Tuberculosis and respiratory diseases
JF - Tuberculosis and respiratory diseases
SN - 1738-3536
ER -