by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have discovered that the century-old Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, initially developed to prevent tuberculosis, offers protection to individuals with type 1 diabetes against severe COVID-19 disease and other infectious diseases.
Two recent randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled trials conducted at MGH revealed that the BCG vaccine provided consistent protection for nearly the entire COVID-19 pandemic in the US, irrespective of the viral variant.
The Type 1 Diabetes are more susceptible to infections and experience worse outcomes when infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. According to senior author Denise Faustman, MD, Ph.D., director of the Immunobiology Laboratory at MGH and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, “Published data suggests that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are not very effective in protecting this vulnerable population. Our study shows that BCG can offer protection from COVID-19 and other infectious diseases for type 1 diabetics.”
The 18-month Phase III trial, published in iScience, was conducted during the US pandemic when the highly transmissible omicron variant was prevalent. The 15-month Phase II trial was carried out at the beginning of the pandemic, with the results published in Cell Reports Medicine.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, several international trials investigated if BCG, as a single shot or booster, given to previously BCG-vaccinated adults protected them from infection and COVID-19. This research expanded the extensive global clinical trial database, demonstrating that BCG administered to newborns functions as a foundation for all infectious diseases, potentially for decades. However, the results from COVID-19 booster trials in individuals previously vaccinated with BCG were inconclusive, with five randomized trials reporting efficacy and seven trials reporting no benefit.
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1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
