scholarly journals Worldwide inverse correlation between Bacille Calmette-Guérin immunization and COVID-19 mortality

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willis X. Li

Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread to all countries in the world after more than half a year since it was first reported in late 2019, and different countries have been impacted differently. Multivariate statistical analyses were used to evaluate COVID-19 deaths and cases relative to nine other demographic and socioeconomic factors in all countries and regions of the world using data as of August 1, 2020. The factors analyzed in the study include a country’s total COVID-19 deaths and cases per million population, per capita gross domestic product (GDP), population density, virus tests per million population, median age, government response stringency index, hospital beds availability per thousand population, extreme poverty rate, Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination rate, and diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3) immunization rate. The study reveals that COVID-19 deaths per million population in a country most significantly correlates, inversely, with the country’s BCG vaccination rate, and also significantly correlates a country’s per capita GDP and median age, while COVID-19 cases per million population significantly correlate with per capita GDP and tests per thousand population. This study contributes to a growing body of evidence supporting the notion that BCG vaccination may be protective against COVID-19 mortality.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willis X. Li

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has spread to all countries in the world after more than six months since it was first reported in late 2019, and different countries have been impacted differently. Correlation analysis between COVID-19 death numbers and different demographic and socioeconomic factors for all world countries (n=210) as of June 1, 2020, reveals that COVID-19 deaths per million population in a country significantly correlates with the country’s median age (r=0.48, p=4.8e-4) and per capita gross domestic product (GDP) (r=0.55, p=4.14e-5), and inversely correlates with the country’s Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination rate (r=–0.63, p=9.9e-7). COVID-19 death is found not significantly associated, however, with a country’s policy stringency index, population density, extreme poverty rate, hospital beds availability per thousand people, and diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3) immunization. Old age is likely a confounding factor for the correlation between COVID-19 and per capita GDP (r=0.66, p=2.3e-7). To control for possible confounding effects of age, countries with similar median age were grouped and analyzed. The inverse correlation between BCG vaccination rates and COVID-19 case (r=–0.338, p=0.0082) and death (r=–0.411, p=0.0011) remained significant among the top 61 countries with highest median age. The current study suggests that BCG might be protective against SARS-CoV-2 infection.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue-Cune Chang

BACKGROUND The Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) is the new form of an acute infectious respiratory disease and has quickly spread over most continents in the world. Recently, it has been shown that Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) might protect against COVID-19. This study aims to investigate the possible correlation between BCG vaccination and morbidity/mortality/recovery rate associated with COVID-19 infection. OBJECTIVE Our findings confirm that the BCG vaccination might protect against COVID-19 virus infection. METHODS Data of COVID-19 confirmed cases, deaths, recoveries, and population were obtained from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ (Accessed on 12 June, 2020). To have meaningful comparisons among countries’ mortality and recovery rates, we only choose those countries with COVID-19 infected cases at least 200. The Poisson regression and logistic regression were used to explore the relationship between BCG vaccination and morbidity, mortality and recovery rates. RESULTS Among those 158 countries with at least 200 COVID-19 infected cases, there were 141 countries with BCG vaccination information available. The adjusted rates ratio of COVID-19 confirmed cases for Current BCG vaccination vs. non-Current BCG vaccination was 0.339 (with 95% CI= (0.338,0.340)). Moreover, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) of death and recovery after coronavirus infected for Current BCG vaccination vs. non-Current BCG vaccination were 0.258 (with 95% CI= (0.254,0.261)) and 2.151 (with 95% CI= (2.140,2.163)), respectively. CONCLUSIONS That data in this study show the BCG might provide the protection against COVID-19, with consequent less COVID-19 infection and deaths and more rapid recovery. BCG vaccine might bridge the gap before the disease-specific vaccine is developed, but this hypothesis needs to be further tested in rigorous randomized clinical trials. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR2-https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.14.20131268


2022 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-192
Author(s):  
Gregory T. Papanikos

On the 31st of December 2021, the euro celebrated its two decades in circulation. Initially, twelve countries adopted the euro as their new national currency, Greece being one of them. Starting in 2020, euro is the official currency of nineteen European Union countries. This paper aims to examine three issues. Firstly, the paper investigates Greek people’s perception about the euro, using data from the recent issue of the Eurobarometer (December 2021). Secondly, the economic performance of Greece is briefly examined by comparing the Greek Gross Domestic Product (GDP) two decades before and two decades after the introduction of euro. Finally, the Greek participation to the eurozone has been a controversial, political issue. The political developments in Greece during the first two decades of the euro are also studied, emphasizing the dramatic political events after the double elections of 2012. The period of the two decades ends with the detrimental impact of COVID-19. This issue is also mentioned by reviewing some recent publications. Keywords: Eurozone, Greece, GDP, per capita GDP, Eurobarometer, euro, elections, politics


2020 ◽  
pp. 1598-1617
Author(s):  
Ramesh Chandra Das ◽  
Sovik Mukherjee

Terrorist activities in the post-Paris Peace Treaties have emerged as one of the most perilous agendas that are troubling the world economies and political figures in securing their nations and regions. Several socio-economic factors were evidenced to be the crucial factors in determining terrorist activities all around the world. The present article strives to identify the significance of several socio economic factors, namely, refugee population, access to good sanitation facilities, youth unemployment rate, percentage of education expenditure to GDP, percentage of military expenditure to GDP, per capita GDP and political stability in the panel of seven South Asian countries and China for the period 2002-2016. By applying both static and dynamic panel models, the article observes that all of the selected variables explain the terrorism index with expected signs. The article thus prescribes that the governments of the selected countries should concentrate on allocating their budgets on the improvements of sectors underlying the associated indicators.


1970 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 202-220
Author(s):  
Samira Luitel

The World Bank report (1991) mentioned that "Nepal is one of the world's poorest countries. It ranks 115th in per capita GNP out of 120 countries. With respect to life expectancy, it ranks 103rd out of 118 reporting countries. It is one of the constellations of countries characterized by rapid population increase, low or negative per capita GDP growth and a slow transition out of a subsistence agricultural economy. It exhibits many of the characteristics of similar sub-Saharan African economies, including a limited productive land base, a land-locked location, and a very low level of exports."   DOI: 10.3126/opsa.v11i0.3037 Occasional Papers in Sociology and Anthropology Vol.11 2009 202-220


1988 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-10
Author(s):  
Robert S. Browne

As the decade of the 1970’s drew to a close, Africa’s leaders were becoming concerned over the economic stagnation visibly creeping across the Continent. The dramatic escalation in energy prices, combined with the general world inflation, had palpably shifted the terms of trade against the African petroleum importers, effectively neutralizing the higher commodity prices which African exports had enjoyed in the earlier years of the decade. Per capita GDP figures, which in most of Africa had been rising since independence, had begun to slip. In some countries the physical and social infrastructure was clearly detriorating.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 25-28
Author(s):  
Басовская ◽  
Elena Basovskaya

The purpose of the work consisted in assessment of size of per capita GDP in regions of the country, which would be comparable to estimates of per capita GDP in the countries of the world. For receiving assessment, the per capita GDP during 2001-2014 was compared with the size of the gross value added of goods and services created by residents of regions. The treated ratios are used for GDP assessment in regions. The established sizes of per capita GDP in regions are used for the international comparisons. The executed comparisons show that the sizes of per capita GDP of the regions of the country are different. The level of development of some region is comparable with the level of development of leading economies of the world, such as Norway, Great Britain, and Denmark. The level of development of the other regions of the country is comparable with the level of the poorest countries of the world.


2000 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-62
Author(s):  
P.K. Jain ◽  
Manmohan Yadav

The “Death of Distance” will be the single most important economic force shaping the society over the next half century with geography, borders and time zones becoming irrelevant with the new communication revolution. The world trade has increased manifolds since World War II and the merchandise exports have increased to about $6,000 billion today from just $50 billion in 1950 while the trade in services is increasing faster and stands at about $1,450 billion as the economies are opening up and integrating with the world economy. As evident from the experience of the countries that followed open-market and free trade policies, achieved higher growth rates in their GDP, per capita GDP, and the exports than the closed economies. As more and more countries are opening their economies and integrating with the world economy and the revolution in IT, we are heading towards a “borderless” world with free flow of trade and resources. The autarkic strategies for economic development followed by India since its independence inevitably cut the economy off from the technological advancements in rest of the world and as a result India still remains way behind the industrialised economies. Also, despite above average growth in India's GDP and exports since 1970s than the world average, India's per capita GDP is among the lowest at $370. Even the most populous country in the world, China has per capita GDP of $860. The balance-of-payments crisis in mid-1991 forced the Indian policymakers to make a paradigm shift, though under IMF-led bail out package and prescription for structural adjustments, in its economic, industrial, and trade policies more commonly known as the “economic reforms”- liberalisation and globalisation of Indian economy. While the reforms have helped overcome the liquidity crisis and the economy broadly got back to the growth charted in 1980s, yet the structural adjustments have propelled investment in non-traded goods and in buying out of well performing Indian companies and brands by the MNCs than actually increasing the gross fixed capital formation in the manufacturing sector with the modern technologies. It is under this background and the similarities in cultural, political, ethnic and alike factors among the South Asian countries, that the present paper aims at analysing and learning lessons from the progressive aspects as well as failures of India's economic reforms, while the South Asian countries emulated the same.


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard W. Carney ◽  
Loh Yi Zheng

Despite having the fifth highest per capita GDP in the world (according to IMF PPP statistics for 2007), and despite numerous government efforts to spur innovation, Singapore has faced difficulties in establishing a durable base of entrepreneurial activity. Many ascribe this failure to the city-state's policies, which are often portrayed as generating a culture of risk aversion and a lack of creativity. In contrast to this conventional view, this article argues that the city-state's institutional arrangements generate conflicting innovation incentives and ultimately undermine innovative activity. Statistical tests across twenty-three countries offer evidence that is consistent with this argument.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document