TB vaccine may protect newborns against other infectious diseases

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-02/lsoh-tvm021721.php

 

News Release 17-Feb-2021
New study "raises hopes" that the BCG vaccination could be used against COVID-19 infection
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

 

The tuberculosis (TB) vaccine Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) could protect newborns against a variety of common infections, such as upper respiratory tract infections, chest infections and diarrhoea, according to a new study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

The research is the first of its kind to rigorously investigate the full range of illnesses BCG could protect infants against. It suggests that vaccinating all babies on the day of birth with BCG could reduce neonatal infections and death in areas with high infectious disease rates, potentially saving thousands of lives a year. The results also increase the possibility that the vaccine might be used to protect children and adults against COVID-19 and other new infectious diseases.

Led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) through the MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, and funded by the Wellcome Trust, the study involved a randomized control trial of 560 newborns in Uganda, who were monitored for a range of illnesses.

After six weeks, infection rates from any disease were 25% lower in the group who received the vaccine at birth, compared to the group that had not yet received the vaccination. Particularly vulnerable groups such as low birth weight babies, and boys, seemed to be protected the most. Importantly, BCG appeared to protect against mild, moderate and severe types of infections.

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