The widely used Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine will be trialled globally to 10,000 people after the injection was found to stimulate the immune system. The University of Exeter is leading the UK arm of the trial and will soon recruit healthcare staff and care home workers in the UK. Participants will be given either the BCG vaccine, which is currently given to more than 100 million babies worldwide each year to protect against tuberculosis, or a placebo injection. In the UK, routine BCG vaccination was stopped in 2005 because of low rates of TB in the general population. Previous studies suggest that the BCG vaccine could reduce susceptibility to a range of infections caused by viruses including those similar to the novel coronavirus causing Covid-19.

Source: Daily Mirror October 11, 2020 09:29 UTC