scholarly journals Does the Bacillus Calmette–Guérin vaccine provide protection from COVID-19?

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 ◽  
pp. 17-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soumya Roy
Keyword(s):  
Interleukin 1 ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Bacillus Calmette Guerin ◽  
Bcg Vaccination ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Prevention And Cure ◽  
Heterologous Protection ◽  
Necrosis Factor ◽  
Pro Inflammatory Cytokines

Objective: The novel coronavirus pandemic is ravaging throughout the world. It has infected more than 1.2 million people and killed more than 64,000. Frantic research is underway to find prevention and cure. Of late, Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) has been speculated as a possible protection from COVID-19. We sought to investigate the evidence behind the claim. Material and Methods: Data were collected regarding the total number of COVID-19 cases per million and total number of COVID-19 deaths per million in various countries. The BCG vaccination policies of these countries were also obtained. Results: It was seen that the countries with no universal BCG policy had a mean 1272.9 (median 795) cases per million and 80.7 deaths (median 18) per million population. On the contrary, the countries with a universal BCG vaccination policy had a mean 131.2 (median 40) cases per million and 4 deaths (median 1) per population. The difference is highly significant (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The data strongly support the hypothesis that BCG may offer protection from COVID-19. Heterologous protection offered by BCG through production of trained immunity, epigenetic reprogramming of monocytes, non-specific activation of NK cells, and increase of pro-inflammatory cytokines (particularly, tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-alpha and interleukin 1 beta) production may be the mechanism behind its cross- protection against the novel coronavirus.

scholarly journals Autophagy Modulation in Lymphocytes From COVID-19 Patients: New Therapeutic Target in SARS-COV-2 Infection

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Vomero ◽  
Cristiana Barbati ◽  
Tania Colasanti ◽  
Alessandra Ida Celia ◽  
Mariangela Speziali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Degradation Pathway ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Lysosomal Degradation ◽  
Tnf Α ◽  
Evolutionarily Conserved ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Factor Α ◽  
Necrosis Factor ◽  
Pro Inflammatory Cytokines

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the novel coronavirus, causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). During virus infection, several pro-inflammatory cytokines are produced, leading to the “cytokine storm.” Among these, interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α), and IL-1β seem to have a central role in the progression and exacerbation of the disease, leading to the recruitment of immune cells to infection sites. Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved lysosomal degradation pathway involved in different aspects of lymphocytes functionality. The involvement of IL-6, TNF‐α, and IL-1β in autophagy modulation has recently been demonstrated. Moreover, preliminary studies showed that SARS-CoV-2 could infect lymphocytes, playing a role in the modulation of autophagy. Several anti-rheumatic drugs, now proposed for the treatment of COVID-19, could modulate autophagy in lymphocytes, highlighting the therapeutic potential of targeting autophagy in SARS-CoV-2 infection.

scholarly journals Exercising caution in correlating COVID-19 incidence and mortality rates with BCG vaccination policies due to variable rates of SARS CoV-2 testing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine Hensel ◽  
Kathleen M. McAndrews ◽  
Daniel J. McGrail ◽  
Dara P. Dowlatshahi ◽  
Valerie S. LeBleu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Bcg Vaccine ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Bacillus Calmette Guerin ◽  
Vaccination Policy ◽  
Bcg Vaccination ◽  
The Past ◽  
Incidence And Mortality ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
A Current

ABSTRACTThe Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine provides protection against tuberculosis (TB), and is proposed to provide protection to non-TB infectious diseases. The COVID-19 outbreak results from infection with the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (CoV-2) and was declared a pandemic on March 11th, 2020. We queried whether the BCG vaccine offers protection against CoV-2 infection. We observed that countries with a current universal BCG vaccination policy have a significantly lower COVID-19 incidence than countries which never had a universal BCG policy or had one in the past. However, population density, median age, TB incidence, urban population, and, most significantly, CoV-2 testing rate, were also connected with BCG policy and could potentially confound the analysis. By limiting the analysis to countries with high CoV-2 testing rates, defined as greater than 2,500 tests per million inhabitants, these parameters were no longer statistically associated with BCG policy. When analyzing only countries with high testing rates, there was no longer a significant association between the number of COVID-19 cases per million inhabitants and the BCG vaccination policy. Although preliminary, our analyses indicate that the BCG vaccination may not offer protection against CoV-2 infection. While reporting biases may confound our observations, our findings support exercising caution in determining potential correlation between BCG vaccination and COVID-19 incidence, in part due significantly lower rates of CoV-2 testing per million inhabitants in countries with current universal BCG vaccination policy.

scholarly journals Increases in Use of Psychiatric Sick Leave During the COVID-19 Pandemic by Healthcare Workers in a Municipality of Argentina. Observed Versus Expected Cases in 2020 compared to Historical data.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agustina M Marconi ◽  
Ursula S Myers ◽  
Alfredo M Retamar ◽  
Ivanna Jazmin Freddi ◽  
Rafael Zamora
Keyword(s):  
Sick Leave ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Psychological Symptoms ◽  
The Novel ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Municipal Level ◽  
Wide Pressure

Abstract Background: The severe respiratory syndrome caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS CoV 2) has caused world-wide pressure on the healthcare workers attempting to treat millions of individuals ill with COVID-19, in addition to their regular duties. Aims: examine the use of psychiatric leave by Argentinian healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic; explore differences by gender. Methods: analysis of “excess of psychiatric sick leave” in health workers at a municipal level for Buenos Aires, January- October 2020. We used historical cases of psychiatric sick leave (2015-2019) and those requested in 2020. The differences between gender were determined using difference in proportions among groups. Results: The excess of psychiatric sick leave in 2020 compared to historical data was 161.90%. The difference in proportion per sex showed a significant 59.34% towards female. Conclusions: healthcare workers in the Argentinian municipality of Vicente Lopez used significantly higher number of psychiatric sick leaves during pandemic. The higher rates of psychiatric sick leave used by female replicate findings of higher rates of psychological symptoms in female healthcare workers.

Load Down-Regulates TNF-Alpha Induced Cartilage Degradation in Part Through NF-KB and P38 Pathways

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie M. Wolfe ◽  
Seonghun Park ◽  
Marjana Tomic ◽  
Peter A. Torzilli ◽  
C. T. Christopher Chen
Keyword(s):  
Inflammatory Responses ◽  
Inflammatory Diseases ◽  
Interleukin 1 ◽  
Tensile Load ◽  
Cartilage Degradation ◽  
Acute Injury ◽  
Cyclic Compression ◽  
Tnf Α ◽  
Necrosis Factor ◽  
Pro Inflammatory Cytokines

Pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF), can induce cartilage degradation after acute injury or in inflammatory diseases [1,2,3,7]. The degradative events are coordinated through the elevation and activation of two classes of enzymes, namely matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and aggrecanases (ADAMTS-4 and −5) [1,6]. Prior studies suggested that pro-inflammatory responses induced by IL-1β can be inhibited by tensile load [2] and more recently by cyclic compression [8]. It is, however, not clear whether load affects other cytokines, such as TNF-α. TNF-α is known to bind its receptor (TNFR1) to cause a cascade that ends with degradation of an inhibitor, IκBα, and release of the transcription factor NF-κB [3]. The actions of TNF-α are also known to be affected by at least three NF-κB independent pathways including the p38, ERK, and JNK pathways [4]. The objective of this study was to determine whether cyclic compression could affect TNF-α induced cartilage degradation and to determine the roles of p38, ERK, and JNK pathways in TNF-induced cartilage degradation. We hypothesized that cyclic loading would inhibit the degradative effects caused by TNF-α.

scholarly journals Polls and the Pandemic: Estimating the Electoral Effects of a SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak

2020 ◽  
pp. 147892992097918
Author(s):  
Indraneel Sircar
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Power ◽  
Parliamentary Election ◽  
County Level ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Infection Rates ◽  
Difference In Differences ◽  
Electoral Impact ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the associated Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have had far-reaching health, economic, social and political impacts. The latter is the focus of this research note, which proposes using a difference-in-differences approach to estimate the electoral impact of reported SARS-CoV-2 infection rates. The approach is illustrated using data from the 2020 Croatian parliamentary election. The outcomes of interest are the vote shares for the dominant Croatian Democratic Union party, as well as the turnout. The analysis concludes that there is no evidence that reported county-level infection rates affected Croatian Democratic Union support or turnout. However, results using this approach may be affected by the statistical power of the analysis, issues related to causal identification and reliability of infection rate measures. Nonetheless, the difference-in-differences approach can potentially be applied in contexts around the world to estimate the electoral impact of reported SARS-CoV-2 infection rates.

scholarly journals Incidence of common infectious diseases in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic

PLoS ONE ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. e0261332
Author(s):  
Kenji Hibiya ◽  
Hiroyoshi Iwata ◽  
Takeshi Kinjo ◽  
Akira Shinzato ◽  
Masao Tateyama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Epidemiological Surveillance ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Carbapenem Resistant ◽  
Cross Correlation Analysis ◽  
Route Of Transmission ◽  
Contact Transmission ◽  
Exanthema Subitum ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

Recent reports indicate that respiratory infectious diseases were suppressed during the novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. COVID-19 led to behavioral changes aimed to control droplet transmission or contact transmission. In this study, we examined the incidence of common infectious diseases in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 data were extracted from the national data based on the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases (NESID). Common infectious diseases were selected from notifiable infectious diseases under the NESID. The epidemic activity of the diseases during 2015–2020 was evaluated based on the Infectious Disease Weekly Reports published by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases. Each disease was then categorized according to the route of transmission. Many Japanese people had adopted hygienic activities, such as wearing masks and hand washing, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined the correlation between the time-series of disease counts of common infectious diseases and COVID-19 over time using cross-correlation analysis. The weekly number of cases of measles, rotavirus, and several infections transmitted by droplet spread, was negatively correlated with the weekly number of cases of COVID-19 for up to 20 weeks in the past. According to the difference-in-differences analysis, the activity of influenza and rubella was significantly lower starting from the second week in 2020 than that in 2015–2019. Only legionellosis was more frequent throughout the year than in 2015–2019. Lower activity was also observed in some contact transmitted, airborne-transmitted, and fecal-oral transmitted diseases. However, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, exanthema subitum, showed the same trend as that over the previous 5 years. In conclusion, our study shows that public health interventions for the COVID-19 pandemic may have effectively prevented the transmission of most droplet-transmitted diseases and those transmitted through other routes.

scholarly journals Pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (PARDS) On Pediatric COVID-19 Patients

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-157
Author(s):  
Siti Rahmah ◽  
Lalu Wahyu Alfian Muharzami ◽  
Lastri Akhdani Almaesy ◽  
Putri Nurhayati ◽  
Ridha Sasmitha A
Keyword(s):  
Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome ◽  
Respiratory Distress Syndrome ◽  
Respiratory Distress ◽  
Distress Syndrome ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Handling Technique ◽  
The Difference ◽  
One Year ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

At the end of 2019, there was a pandemic happening in the world, called the novel Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Various spectrums of disease from COVID-19, one of which is ARDS. The incidence of COVID-19 in children is not as much as in adults. However, in children under one year of age it can get worse. The main characteristic of worsening infection is the occurrence of ARDS.  Objective: To find out the best treatment for PARDS in COVID-19 patients. Method: The writing of this article uses various sources from scientific journals to government guidelines and related institutions. Search articles using the keywords “Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome”, “ARDS”, “Pediatric Respiratory Distress Syndrome”, “PARDS”, and “PARDS on COVID-19” Result and Discussion: PARDS was defined based on PALICC in 2015. Pathophysiology of PARDS in COVID-19 patients is still unclear. However, there is a theory that explains the way SARS-Cov-2 enters cells, namely through membrane fusion, giving rise to ARDS. The difference in handling PARDS for COVID-19 patients is that the handling technique is more alert to the risk of aerosols. Conclusions: There are differences in the handling of PARDS for COVID-19 patients in the technique by reducing the risk of virus transmission by preventing leakage when using a ventilator and using a bacterial/virus filter, as well as rescuers and staff using complete PPE during the procedure.

scholarly journals Supplementation ofLactobacillus plantarumK68 and Fruit-Vegetable Ferment along with High Fat-Fructose Diet Attenuates Metabolic Syndrome in Rats with Insulin Resistance

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui-Yu Huang ◽  
Mallikarjuna Korivi ◽  
Chun-Han Tsai ◽  
Jo-Hsuan Yang ◽  
Ying-Chieh Tsai
Keyword(s):  
Insulin Resistance ◽  
Glycated Hemoglobin ◽  
Interleukin 1 ◽  
Fasting Blood Glucose ◽  
Antioxidant Properties ◽  
Low Density Lipoproteins ◽  
High Fat ◽  
Anti Inflammatory ◽  
Necrosis Factor ◽  
Pro Inflammatory Cytokines

Lactobacillus plantarumK68 (isolated fromfu-tsai) and fruit-vegetable ferment (FVF) have been tested for antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties in a rat model of insulin resistance, induced by chronic high fat-fructose diet. Fifty rats were equally assigned into control (CON), high fat-fructose diet (HFFD), HFFD plus K68, HFFD plus FVF, and HFFD plus both K68 and FVF (MIX) groups. Respective groups were orally administered with K68 (1×109 CFU/0.5 mL) or FVF (180 mg/kg) or MIX for 8 weeks. We found that HFFD-induced increased bodyweights were prevented, and progressively increased fasting blood glucose and insulin levels were reversed (P<0.01) by K68 and FVF treatments. Elevated glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and HOMA-IR values were controlled in supplemented groups. Furthermore, dyslipidemia, characterized by elevated total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) with HFFD, was significantly (P<0.01) attenuated with MIX. Elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin-1β(IL-1β), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), were controlled (P<0.01) by K68, FVF, and MIX treatments. Moreover, decreased superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities were substantially (P<0.01) restored by all treatments. Experimental evidences demonstrate that K68 and FVF may be effective alternative medicine to prevent HFFD-induced hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and hyperlipidemia, possibly associated with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant efficacies.

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