A vaccine initially developed over a century ago to combat tuberculosis is now revealing its potential in protecting individuals with type 1 diabetes from infectious diseases, including COVID-19.
Recent studies conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have unveiled that the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine offered significant protection against the coronavirus to people with type 1 diabetes in the United States during the pandemic.
Dr. Denise Faustman, the lead author of the studies, emphasized the vulnerability of individuals with type 1 diabetes to infectious diseases and highlighted the detrimental outcomes observed when they contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Clinical trials involving 93 participants who received five or six doses of a potent strain of the BCG vaccine over 36 months demonstrated promising results. In contrast, 48 individuals received a placebo for the same duration. According to Dr. Faustman, the administration of multiple doses of the vaccine aimed to expedite the process of achieving full protection, particularly in individuals without prior exposure to the BCG vaccine.
Until recently, adults in the US had not received BCG vaccines, distinguishing these trials at MGH as unique. Dr. Faustman underscored the significance of these trials, noting that they were conducted in a population that had neither received the BCG vaccine as newborns nor been exposed to tuberculosis, thus eliminating potential confounding factors present in trials conducted elsewhere.
The efficacy of the BCG vaccine in protecting against COVID-19 was comparable to that of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, with an overall efficacy rate of 54.3% throughout the trial. Moreover, recipients of the BCG vaccine exhibited lower rates of fungal, viral, and bacterial infections, indicating its broad-spectrum protective effects.
Dr. Faustman expressed optimism about the BCG vaccine’s potential to provide long-lasting protection against various infectious diseases, including COVID-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and others.
The findings of these studies have been published in iScience and Cell Reports Medicine, offering promising insights into the potential of this century-old vaccine in bolstering the immune response and mitigating the risks posed by infectious diseases, particularly among individuals with type 1 diabetes.
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