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Science & Technology |
How an old tuberculosis vaccine might help fight the new coronavirus |
2020-04-03 |
[Jpost] Scientists in several countries are testing a century-old tuberculosis (TB) vaccine to see if it might boost the immune system to reduce respiratory symptoms in people who get new coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)![]() infections. Researchers in Australia and Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... are testing whether the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, introduced in the 1920s to fight tuberculosis, might be deployed to combat COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Clinical trials are focused on two groups at high-risk for COVID-19: health care workers and the elderly. The BCG vaccine contains a live but weakened strain of tuberculosis bacteria that provokes the body to develop antibodies to attack TB bacteria. This is called an adaptive immune response, because the body develops a defense against a specific disease-causing microorganism, or pathogen, after encountering it. Most vaccines create an adaptive immune response to a single pathogen. Unlike other vaccines, the BCG vaccine may also boost the innate immune system, first-line defenses that keep a variety of pathogens from entering the body or from establishing an infection. One study in Guinea-Bissau found 50% lower mortality rates in children vaccinated with BCG than in kids who did not get this vaccine. That is a much bigger drop in deaths than could be explained by a reduction in TB cases. Some studies have found similar reductions in respiratory infections among teens and the elderly. |
Posted by:trailing wife |