A new study led by Maziar Divangahi, PhD, reveals that the 100-year-old tuberculosis vaccine known as BCG can provide protection against respiratory infections like influenza, but not against SARS-CoV-2.
The BCG vaccine has a remarkable track record… In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, epidemiological studies suggested that national BCG vaccination programs were associated with reduced COVID-19 morbidity and mortality across borders and age groups. This led to several large-scale BCG clinical trials around the world.
Maziar Divangahi
The study involved researchers at national and international universities, using a variety of clinical and preclinical approaches. Surprisingly, BCG vaccination in murine and hamster models of COVID-19 did not provide protection against SARS-CoV-2. Additional work is underway to understand this phenomenon.
Maziar Divangahi, PhD, Scientist at the RI-MUHC, Associate Director of the Meakins-Christie Laboratories and Associate Director of the McGill International TB Centre.
Read more about the study and the findings here:
BCG vaccine provides protection against influenza virus but not SARS-CoV-2. RI-MUHC Research News, March 8, 2022.
BCG vaccine provides protection against influenza virus but not SARS-CoV-2. Kaufmann E, Khan N, Tran KA, Ulndreaj A, Pernet E, Fontes G, Lupien A, Desmeules P, McIntosh F, Abow A, Moorlag SJCFM, Debisarun P, Mossman K, Banerjee A, Karo-Atar D, Sadeghi M, Mubareka S, Vinh DC, King IL, Robbins CS, Behr MA, Netea MG, Joubert P, Divangahi M. Cell Rep. 2022 Mar 8;38(10):110502.