I remember nervously queuing up for the BCG jab at school, I also remember how some in the class thought it was very funny to punch people in the arm the rest of the week, ouch! I just had a peek and my BCG scar is still there over 30 years later, but now there might be a reason to praise your school jab. Researchers have noticed a correlation between countries that have TB Vaccination and lower rates of Covid-19 infections.
https://twitter.com/AkshatRathi/status/1245626716430561285?s=20
Yellow: universal BCG vaccination, blue: recommends not to vaccinate. Look at Portugal (yellow) and Spain (blue) less variables between these 2 countries.
Portugal (BCG) has 209 deaths vs Spain (no BCG) at 10930. Explain that. pic.twitter.com/A5Vm8hLSz0
— Luke O'Neill (@laoneill111) April 3, 2020
From the Irish Times:
Prof O’Neill said there was evidence going back 30 years that those getting the vaccine get less measles and less respiratory illness.
Given the “great science behind the BCG vaccine” this research is worth serious consideration, he believed. Already, scientists are moving quickly in an attempt to verify if there is a medical basis for the connection.
Clinicians in six countries are running trials giving front-line health workers and older people the BCG vaccine. He underlined the study is “a correlation, so there is always an issue of confounding variables”. So a high Covid-19 death rate in Italy may be due to low BCG vaccination or a higher proportion of older people.
Now the rational-minded amongst you will know that correlation is not causation. Here is a critique of the theory from Nature.
According to Wikipedia The UK introduced universal BCG immunization in 1953. I assume it was introduced in Northern Ireland at the same time. Could this be one of the reasons why older people who never got the BCG are more affected by Covid-19?
Now can I stress this is only a theory. Don’t go getting complacent just because you had the BCG, continue to follow all advice to stay isolated. This is also a good reminder that vaccines save lives. Don’t be one of those reckless parents who don’t vaccinate their kids because they once saw a video on Facebook from a Californian Nutritionist who says they are full of mercury.
Photo by whitesession is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA
I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism, I am not a member of any political party. Oddly for a member of the Slugger team, I am not that interested in daily politics, preferring to write about big ideas in society. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.
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