BCG vaccine a shield against COVID19 in India?

Scientists have shown new hope in their efforts to stop the coronavirus. The BCG vaccine that has been in use in India for 72 years, is now considered by the world to be helpful in fighting corona. According to a study by the New York Institute of Technology’s Department of Biomedical Sciences, in countries like the US and Italy that do not have a BCG vaccination policy, cases of corona are also more common and deaths are increasing. At the same time, deaths are less in countries like Japan and Brazil than in Italy and America. The report does not specifically mention India but the vaccine has been used in India since 1948.

First let’s understand what is BCG?

Its full name is ‘Bacillus Calmette-Guerin’. It is a vaccine to prevent TB and respiratory diseases. BCG is applied between six months after birth. It was first used in the world in 1920. In a country like Brazil, this vaccine has been in use ever since.

What does a BCG vaccine contain?

This vaccine contains the strains of bacterium that cause lung tuberculosis in humans. The strain is named Mycobacterium bovis. During vaccine making, the strength of active bacteria is reduced so that it does not cause disease in healthy people. It is called an active ingredient in the language of medicine. In addition, the vaccine contains sodium, potassium and magnesium salts, glycerol and citric acid.

Does the BCG vaccine also fight the virus?

No. According to medical science, the BCG vaccine gives immunity to combat bacteria. This gives immunity to the body, from which it can withstand the attack of microbes. However, COVID-19 is a virus, not a bacteria. But according to the study, it is possible that due to the good immunity of the body, this vaccine can be helpful in combating the corona, but research is still going on.

How did BCG’s name appear in a study involving Corona?

The New York Institute of Technology’s Department of Biomedical Sciences did a study. Its purpose was to find out the effect on BCG vaccination and corona. It compared countries like Italy, America, Lebanon, Netherlands and Belgium with no BCG vaccination policy to countries such as Japan, Brazil, China, where BCG vaccination policy is in place. China was considered an exception in this, as Corona originated from this country.

What was found in the study?

Scientists have found that BCG vaccination helps fight diseases like viral infections. This raised hopes that BCG vaccination may play an important role in Corona related cases. Scientists arrived at two results after looking at the data from different countries and the health infrastructure there.

1. In cases where BCG vaccination is happening, there are less cases of death due to corona. Where BCG started early, there were even fewer cases of deaths from Corona. For example, Brazil started the vaccination of BCG in 1920 and Japan in 1947. Here the risk of spreading corona is 10 times less. At the same time, the 1984 BCG vaccination began in Iran. It is believed that people up to 36 years of age have been vaccinated in Iran, but the elderly are not vaccinated. Because of this they have a high risk of corona.

2. In countries where there is no BCG vaccination, there are more cases of infections and deaths. Such countries include the United States, Italy, Lebanon, Belgium and the Netherlands, where the risk of corona outbreak is 4 times higher.

Should we assume that the BCG vaccine protects against corona?

It is too early to assume. Scientists in the study said that BCG may provide long-term protection against coronavirus. But for this, trials have to be done. After this study came out, Australia, Netherlands, Germany and the UK have said that they will start human trials by applying BCG vaccine to health workers taking care of coronavirus patients. They will see whether this vaccine strengthens the immune system of health workers. Australia also said last Friday that it will start a trial of the BCG vaccine on about 4 thousand doctors and nurses and the elderly in the country.

Corona strain less dangerous in the country

Scientists estimate that coronavirus spread in India will not prove to be more deadly than China, America, Italy. There is a difference in the strain of viruses in all these places. Strain means the genetic variant or microorganism of any virus. Indian scientists have prepared the genome sequencing by examining 12 samples of corona. According to preliminary reports, the virus found in India is a single spike, while the viruses found in Italy, China and the US have triple spikes. That is, the virus spread in India is not able to catch human cells very strongly. At the same time, the triple spike virus strongly binds the cells. However, this is a very early study and it cannot be fully believed that India will survive this virus relatively unscathed than the rest of the World.