Ravinder Saini
Tribune News Service
Rohtak, April 30
The Pt BD Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) will begin clinical trials from Friday to test the use of tuberculosis vaccine BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) to ward off Covid-19.
Fighting the virus
The BCG vaccine contains a live but weakened strain of TB bacteria that provokes the body to develop antibodies to attack the bacteria.
The trials will be done on 175 attendants of Covid patients, including close contacts, doctors, nurses, ward boys and sanitary workers. They will be administered the BCG vaccine and kept under observation for the next 180 days to find out its effect.
Boosting immunity
Unlike other vaccines, the BCG vaccine also boosts the innate immune system
The BCG vaccine mdash; introduced in the 1920s to fight TB mdash; is currently administered to newborn children. Dr Dhruv Choudhry, investigator of the research and head of Pulmonary Medicine at PGIMS, said the BCG vaccine was known to enhance immunity. "The study aims to explore whether or not persons given the BCG vaccine catch coronavirus infection," he said.
Dr Savita Verma, another investigator, said consent would be taken from Covid patients' attendants to be involved in the study. Thereafter, their samples would be collected. "They would be administered BCG vaccine if they test negative for Covid," she said.
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2Wezbev
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