ArticleClinical epidemiology and global health
Is BCG associated with reduced incidence of COVID-19? A meta-regression of global data from 160 countries.
Article in Clinical epidemiology and global health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multiple BCG vaccinations for the prevention of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in type 1 diabetes.Cell reports. Medicine · 2022Trial
- Review
- Triple Burden: The Incorrigible Threat of Tuberculosis, HIV, and COVID-19.Infectious disorders drug targets · 2024Review
- The safety of BCG revaccination in the context of COVID-19.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2023Article
- Excluding Participants With Mycobacteria Infections From Clinical Trials: A Critical Consideration in Evaluating the Efficacy of BCG Against COVID-19.Journal of Korean medical science · 2023Review
- Influenza and Pneumococcal Vaccination and the Risk of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- BCG Vaccination: A potential tool against COVID-19 and COVID-19-like Black Swan incidents.International immunopharmacology · 2022Review
- Differentially Expressed Genes Study Shown Potential for BCG Stimulation in Reducing the Severity of COVID-19.International journal of inflammation · 2022Article
- Risk Assessment for Patients with Chronic Respiratory Conditions in the Context of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic Statement of the German Respiratory Society with the Support of the German Association of Chest Physicians.Respiration; international review of thoracic diseases · 2022Review
- The Natural Effect of BCG Vaccination on COVID-19: The Debate Continues.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Article
- SARS-CoV-2 subunit vaccine adjuvants and their signaling pathways.Expert review of vaccines · 2022Review
- Spurious early ecological association suggesting BCG vaccination effectiveness for COVID-19.PloS one · 2022Article
- Does BCG provide long-term protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection? A case-control study in Quebec, Canada.Vaccine · 2021Article
- COVID-19 and Beyond: Exploring Public Health Benefits from Non-Specific Effects of BCG Vaccination.Microorganisms · 2021Review
- COVID-19 Severity and Neonatal BCG Vaccination among Young Population in Taiwan.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Association of the past epidemic of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with mortality and incidence of COVID-19.PloS one · 2021Article
- On BCG Vaccine Protection from COVID-19: A Review.SN comprehensive clinical medicine · 2021Review
- Genetic Variants in Immune Related Genes as Predictors of Responsiveness to BCG Immunotherapy in Metastatic Melanoma Patients.Cancers · 2020Article
- BCG as a Vector for Novel Recombinant Vaccines against Infectious Diseases and Cancers.Vaccines · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGlobal research is running towards to find a vaccine to stop the threat of the COVID-19. The Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine that prevents severe forms of tuberculosis is getting more attention in this scenario. The objective of our study was to determine the association between BCG vaccine coverage and incidence of COVID-19 at a national-level across the Globe.
methodsThe data of 160 countries were included in the study. Meta-regression was done to estimate the difference in the incidence of COVID-19 cases between countries with BCG vaccination coverage. BCG coverage was categorized as ≤70%, >70% and no vaccination. The analyses were carried out by adjusting for factors such as population density, income group, latitude, and percentage of the total population under age groups 15-64 and above 65 years of each country.
resultsThe countries that had ≤70% coverage of BCG vaccine reported 6.5 (95% CI: -8.4 to -4.5) less COVID-19 infections per 10,000 population as compared to countries that reported no coverage. Those that had >70% coverage reported 10.1 (95% CI: -11.4 to -8.7) less infections per 10,000 population compared to those with no BCG countries.
conclusionOur analysis suggests that BCG is associated with reduced COVID-19 infections if the BCG vaccine coverage is over 70%. The region-wise analyses also suggested similar findings, except the Middle East and North African region.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.