Currently, there are no drugs that can prevent COVID-19, and there is no vaccine. As the virus traverses the globe, scientists are working at breakneck speed to identify ways to slow or stop the disease.
Taking a new drug from initial trials through to the clinic stage is an incredibly long process. Therefore, researchers are keen to identify vaccines that are already in use that might help tackle SARS-CoV-2.
If scientists have already demonstrated that a vaccine is safe in humans, the journey from clinical trial to widespread use is comparatively short.
Recently, researchers from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia (MCRI) began organizing a trial to investigate whether the tuberculosis (TB) vaccine known as the bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) might offer some protection against COVID-19.
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The researchers plan to trial the vaccine on around 4,000 frontline medical staff at hospitals across Australia.
Project lead Nigel Curtis from the MCRI explains that they hope to “see a reduction in the prevalence and severity of COVID-19 symptoms in healthcare workers receiving the BCG vaccination.”
The BCG vaccine protects against TB, an infectious disease that most commonly affects the lungs. A bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis is what causes TB.
The BCGvaccine reduces the chances of the bacterium infecting someone. It also reduces the severity of the disease in those who do contract it.
The BCG vaccine first became available in 1921, and it appears on the World Health Organization (WHO) List of Essential Medicines. In excess of 100 million babies receive the BCG vaccination each year.
Aside from TB, the BCG vaccine also protects against other conditions t