TY - JOUR
T1 - Safety and COVID-19 Symptoms in Individuals Recently Vaccinated with BCG
T2 - a Retrospective Cohort Study
AU - Moorlag, Simone J C F M
AU - van Deuren, Rosanne C
AU - van Werkhoven, Cornelis H
AU - Jaeger, Martin
AU - Debisarun, Priya
AU - Taks, Esther
AU - Mourits, Vera P
AU - Koeken, Valerie A C M
AU - de Bree, L Charlotte J
AU - Ten Doesschate, Thijs
AU - Cleophas, Maartje C
AU - Smeekens, Sanne
AU - Oosting, Marije
AU - van de Veerdonk, Frank L
AU - Joosten, Leo A B
AU - Ten Oever, Jaap
AU - van der Meer, Jos W M
AU - Curtis, Nigel
AU - Aaby, Peter
AU - Stabell-Benn, Christine
AU - Giamarellos-Bourboulis, Evangelos J
AU - Bonten, Marc
AU - van Crevel, Reinout
AU - Netea, Mihai G
N1 - Funding Information:
M.G.N. was supported by an ERC Advanced Grant ( 833247 ) and a Spinoza Grant of the Netherlands Association for Scientific Research .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s)
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/8/25
Y1 - 2020/8/25
N2 - Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) induces long-term boosting of innate immunity, termed trained immunity, and decreases susceptibility to respiratory tract infections. BCG vaccination trials for reducing SARS-CoV-2 infection are underway, but concerns have been raised regarding the potential harm of strong innate immune responses. To investigate the safety of BCG vaccination, we retrospectively assessed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and related symptoms in three cohorts of healthy volunteers who either received BCG in the last 5 years or did not. BCG vaccination is not associated with increased incidence of symptoms during the COVID-19 outbreak in the Netherlands. Our data suggest that BCG vaccination might be associated with a decrease in the incidence of sickness during the COVID-19 pandemic (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.58, p < 0.05), and lower incidence of extreme fatigue. In conclusion, recent BCG vaccination is safe, and large randomized trials are needed to reveal if BCG reduces the incidence and/or severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
AB - Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) induces long-term boosting of innate immunity, termed trained immunity, and decreases susceptibility to respiratory tract infections. BCG vaccination trials for reducing SARS-CoV-2 infection are underway, but concerns have been raised regarding the potential harm of strong innate immune responses. To investigate the safety of BCG vaccination, we retrospectively assessed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and related symptoms in three cohorts of healthy volunteers who either received BCG in the last 5 years or did not. BCG vaccination is not associated with increased incidence of symptoms during the COVID-19 outbreak in the Netherlands. Our data suggest that BCG vaccination might be associated with a decrease in the incidence of sickness during the COVID-19 pandemic (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.58, p < 0.05), and lower incidence of extreme fatigue. In conclusion, recent BCG vaccination is safe, and large randomized trials are needed to reveal if BCG reduces the incidence and/or severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
KW - BCG
KW - Bacille Calmette-Guérin
KW - COVID-19
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - non-specific effects
KW - off-target effects
KW - trained immunity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091014703&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.xcrm.2020.100073
DO - 10.1016/j.xcrm.2020.100073
M3 - Article
C2 - 32838341
SN - 2666-3791
VL - 1
SP - 1
EP - 15
JO - Cell reports. Medicine
JF - Cell reports. Medicine
IS - 5
M1 - 100073
ER -