Coronavirus is an infectious disease which has been confirmed in more than one million individuals across the world. But scientists have discovered that countries still using the BCG jab in children has death rates almost six times lower than anywhere else.
The BCG jab was given to children, aged between 10 and 14, up until 2005 in the UK.
The vaccine was used to protect against tuberculosis (TB) – a condition that affects the lungs and other parts of the body.
As the rate of TB dropped in the UK, the government stopped the mandatory nationwide BCG jab in schools 15 years ago.
Now, researchers have claimed that the coronavirus death rate is significantly lower in countries that still give out the BCG jab.
US and Sri Lankan scientists analysed the mortality rate of 50 countries with the highest number of COVID-19 cases, per one million residents.
They compared the death rate with the countries that still use the BCG jab.
The average death rate was revealed to vary significantly, depending on whether the nation still gives children the vaccine.
The researchers said: “The intriguing observation of a significant association between BCG use and lower COVID-19-attributable mortality remained discernable.”
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But they warned that more research was needed before any link can be drawn between coronavirus and BCG vaccinations.
“Despite all these caveats, the inverse relationship between country economic status and COVID-19 attributable mortality, and the strong ecological association with BCG vaccination are intriguing,” they added.
“The findings warrant deeper epidemiological scrutiny and prospective evaluation in individually randomised trials.”
Meanwhile, scientists elsewhere have already started medical trials including the BCG jab.
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The trials, taking place in Australia and the Netherlands, may help to show that BCG vaccination kickstarts the immune system to protect against coronavirus, claimed lead researcher Nigel Curtis.
“It can boost the immune system so that it defends better against a whole range of different infections, a whole range of different viruses and bacteria in a lot more generalised way,” he said.
“We wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t think that this might work.
“We need to think of every possible way that we can protect healthcare workers.”
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More than 55,000 people in the UK have tested positive for coronavirus, according to latest government figures.
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