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. 2021 Jan;84(1):13-21.
doi: 10.4046/trd.2020.0063. Epub 2020 Sep 4.

COVID-19 Death and BCG Vaccination Programs Worldwide

Feras J Jirjees  1 , Yahya H Dallal Bashi  2 , Hala J Al-Obaidi  2
Affiliations

COVID-19 Death and BCG Vaccination Programs Worldwide

Feras J Jirjees et al. Tuberc Respir Dis (Seoul). 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Several clinical trials are being conducted worldwide to investigate the protective effect of the 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 the BCG vaccine, could reduce the mortality due to other diseases caused by non-targeted pathogens, most probably through the nonspecific effects (heterologous effects). By the end of May 2020, the available information on the COVID-19 pandemic indicated the great effect of the 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 the population in these two groups of countries (p<0.001, MannWhitney test). Therefore, it can be concluded that the early establishment of a BCG vaccination policy in any country is a key element in reducing the number of COVID-19 and tuberculosis death cases.

Keywords: BCG Vaccine; COVID-19 Death Cases; COVID-19 Mortality; COVID-19 Pandemic; Coronavirus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Summary of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) death case per million of population in countries with more than 10,000 COVID-19 cases in the presence and absence of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination policies, as per the World Health Organization situation report on 28 May 2020. p-values represent results of Mann-Whitney comparison between BCG and non-BCG countries.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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