BCG Vaccine News and Research

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The BCG Vaccine is a vaccine containing bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), an attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis, with non-specific immunoadjuvant and immunotherapeutic activities. Although the mechanism of its anti-tumor activity is unclear, immunization with BCG vaccine likely activates a Th1 cytokine response that includes the induction of interferon. Vaccination with BCG vaccine may be immunoprotective against infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

University of Oxford begins recruiting for Phase I trial of new TB vaccine

The University of Oxford has begun recruiting for a Phase I trial with a tuberculosis vaccine in human volunteers at Oxford to develop a new way to test the efficacy of future TB vaccines - with the first volunteers being challenged today (Wednesday).

12 Jul 2022

The effect of immunization with bivalent oral poliovirus vaccine on the incidence of COVID-19

Researchers evaluated the impact of the OPV on the incidence of COVID-19.

23 Jun 2022

Researchers reveal the mechanism of action of century-old BCG vaccine

The century-old Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine against tuberculosis is one of the world's oldest and most widely used vaccines, used to immunize 100 million newborns every year. Given in countries with endemic TB, it has surprisingly been found to protect newborns and young infants against multiple bacterial and viral infections unrelated to TB. There's even some evidence that it can reduce severity of COVID-19.

4 May 2022

Study suggests BCG vaccination might confer immunity to SARS-CoV-2

In a recent study posted to the bioRxiv* preprint server, the researchers investigated the impact of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine-induced antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike (S) glycoprotein.

25 Apr 2022

Study shows BCG vaccination reduces SARS-CoV-2-induced lung inflammation in hamsters

Researchers tested the effectiveness of the BCG vaccine in SARS-CoV-2-infected Syrian hamsters.

18 Mar 2022

The Future of Tuberculosis; An Interview with the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute

We speak to Dr. Alemnew Dagnew from the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute, about their tuberculosis vaccine study and the future of tuberculosis.

16 Mar 2022

Mice study shows how to improve long-term effectiveness of TB vaccine

Briefly blocking a key molecule when administering the only approved vaccine for tuberculosis vastly improves long-term protection against the devastating disease in mice, researchers from Texas Biomedical Research Institute report this week in the Journal of Immunology.

11 Mar 2022

Researchers launch a multi-center trial to investigate new treatment for pediatric type 1 diabetes

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, in partnership with NYU Langone Health, have launched a multi-center clinical trial to investigate a new treatment for pediatric type 1 diabetes even in subjects with established disease.

1 Mar 2022

Study shows BCG vaccine provides no protection against SARS-CoV-2 in mice and hamsters

Researchers investigated the effectiveness of the BCG vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 infections using three animal models.

23 Feb 2022

Flu shots and COVID-19 immunity

A new paper finds that the influenza vaccine may influence both the response to and incidence of infection by the SARS-CoV-2.

14 Sep 2021

Study shows bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccine can protect mice against lethal SARS-CoV-2 challenge

A recent US study, currently available on bioRxiv* preprint server, implies that vaccination with bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) can limit the infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by targeting innate immune pathways and could thus be used as a platform for pinpointing early immunologic events affecting the outcome of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

1 Sep 2021

First dose of Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines has strong protective effect against COVID-19 in older adults

A new study estimates vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 mortality in England using the RDD approach.

22 Jul 2021

New positive data on BCG’s ability to safely and significantly lower blood sugars

At the recent 2021 Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) presented positive updates on their trials of the bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine to safely and significantly lower blood sugars.

25 Jun 2021

Researchers determine molecular structure of bacterial protein complex critical for tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is one of the top ten causes of death worldwide, infecting about one-quarter of the world's population. Although it is treatable, the rise of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis poses a major threat to global health security, and has been declared by the World Health Organization as a global health emergency.

25 Jun 2021

Study explores the immune response to COVID-19-specific vaccines in Brazilian healthcare workers

An Australian-led study will investigate whether it's possible to predict who remains susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 variants after having COVID-19 or receiving a COVID-19-specific vaccine.

9 Jun 2021

Composition and function of gut microbiota are key in affecting immune responses to vaccinations

Varying immune response to vaccinations could be countered with microbiota-targeted interventions helping infants, older people and others to take full advantage of the benefits of effective vaccines, Australian and US experts say.

29 May 2021

Researchers find the right dosing of an old anti-tuberculosis drug

A considerably higher dose of the anti-tuberculosis drug rifampicin is safe and can also lead to a shorter treatment for tuberculosis and less resistance.

22 Mar 2021

Vaccination against tuberculosis has influence on the epidemiology of COVID-19

St Petersburg University scientists have analyzed about 100 academic papers and statistics on the incidence of COVID-19 in different countries of the world.

3 Dec 2020

Immune system differences, better blood vessel health could protect children from severe COVID-19

Differences in the immune systems and better blood vessel health were among the factors protecting children from severe COVID-19, according to a new review.

2 Dec 2020

BCG vaccination appears to trigger cross-reactive SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell response

Recently, researchers from the Monash University and Monash Medical Centre, Clayton, Victoria, Australia, investigated whether peptide sensitization using BCG can produce cross-reactive T cells specific to SARS-CoV-2. Their study is published on the preprint server, medRxiv.

24 Nov 2020