Effectiveness of booster BCG vaccination in preventing Covid-19 infection.
Hum Vaccin Immunother
; 17(11): 3913-3915, 2021 11 02.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1360307
Preprint
This scientific journal article is probably based on a previously available preprint. It has been identified through a machine matching algorithm, human confirmation is still pending.
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This scientific journal article is probably based on a previously available preprint. It has been identified through a machine matching algorithm, human confirmation is still pending.
See preprint
ABSTRACT
The evidence that BCG (bacille Calmette-Guerin) vaccine may increase the ability of the immune system to fight off pathogens other than tuberculosis has been studied in the past. This nonspecific immunity gained our interest, especially after initial reports of less cases in countries with universal BCG vaccination. In hopes of possible protective immunity, all staff of the Emirates International Hospital (United Arab Emirates) were offered a booster BCG vaccine in early March 2020. All the hospital staff were then tested for Covid-19 infection by the end of June 2020. We divided the subjects into two groups booster vaccinated versus unvaccinated. The rate of Covid-19 infection was compared between the groups. Criteria included all staff who were offered the vaccine. Seventy-one subjects received the booster vaccination. This group had zero cases of positive COVID 19 infection. Two hundred nine subjects did not receive the vaccination, with 18 positive PCR confirmed COVID 19 cases. The infection rate in the unvaccinated group was 8.6% versus zero in the booster vaccinated group (Fisher's exact test p-value = .004). Our findings demonstrated the potential effectiveness of the booster BCG vaccine, specifically the booster in preventing Covid-19 infections in an elevated-risk healthcare population.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
BCG Vaccine
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Hum Vaccin Immunother
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
21645515.2021.1956228
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