Could Individuals From Countries Using BCG Vaccination Be Resistant to SARS-COV-2 Induced Infections?

AYANOĞLU İ. C., İPEKOĞLU E. M., Yazar V., Yilmaz I. C., GÜRSEL M., GÜRSEL M.

TURKISH JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, cilt.8, sa.1, ss.29-36, 2020 (ESCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Derleme
  • Cilt numarası: 8 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2020
  • Doi Numarası: 10.25002/tji.2020.1250
  • Dergi Adı: TURKISH JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, EMBASE, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.29-36
  • Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The lower than expected number of SARS-CoV-2 cases in countries with fragile health systems is puzzling. Herein, we hypothesize that BCG vaccination policies and vaccine strain preferences adopted by different countries might influence the SARS-CoV-2 transmission patterns and/or COVID-19 associated morbidity and mortality. We also postulate that until a specific vaccine is developed, SARS-CoV-2 vulnerable populations could be immunized with BCG vaccines to attain heterologous nonspecific protection from the new coronavirus. In the lights of our investigations the most resistant countries appear to be the ones using Group I BCG strain. Within these countries, however, those who employs Russian strain is even more protected against COVID-19 infection.