Icmr English news | Icmr, Latest News & Live Updates in English | English News (Latest English News) at Lokmattimes.com

New Delhi, Aug 9 A vaccine, used to treat tuberculosis since the last 100 years, may help prevent the risk of Covid-19 infections in older adults, according to a study by the Indian Medical Research Council (ICMR).Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is considered to be one of the most broadly used vaccines in the world, with around 130 million infants receiving this vaccine every year. There is improved interest in BCG vaccination of elderly population, especially in countries with a high number of reported Covid-19 cases.Previous studies have reported that BCG vaccination may confer protection against respiratory tract infections, involving viral infections.The new study, published in the journal Science Advances, suggests that BCG could potentially act to inhibit the biomarkers of inflammation by the immune cells in the blood.However, "this remains to be proven. In addition, it is still unknown as to how long this inhibitory effect can persist", said a team of researchers from the ICMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis and the ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology.Further, the study also reports that the recent BCG vaccination was not associated with hyperinflammation but was, in turn, associated with down-modulated basal inflammatory status, which might play a protective role in elderly population against inflammatory diseases.In addition, it is quite possible that pathogen-specific immune responses are not affected by BCG vaccination or, in contrast, actually enhanced, the researchers said.Apart from a variety of proinflammatory cytokines, which could possibly play a detrimental role in Covid-19, anti-inflammatory responses including IL-10 and IL-33 implicated in Covid-19 disease severity were also decreased in vaccinated individuals."In conclusion, the current study emphasizes that the effect of BCG vaccination is safe and does not lead to increased inflammation in elderly individuals. The results from this study not only corroborate the immunomodulatory properties of BCG vaccination but also reveal a clear effect of (non) specific immunogenicity of BCG vaccination on systemic inflammation," the researchers noted.The study also acknowledged certain limitations such as the lack of a placebo control group (only unvaccinated controls at baseline).Further understanding of the results may support the vaccine efficacy and explore innovative applications of BCG vaccination, the team said.Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

IcmrFOLLOW

Icmr, Latest News

New Delhi, Aug 26 Balram Bhargava, Director, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said on Thursday that Covid ... ...

New Delhi, Aug 23 The clinical trial participants of Covishield and Covaxin will be issued vaccination certificate through ... ...

Aurangabad, Aug 21: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be held responsible for every Covid-19 death henceforth due to ... ...

An Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study conducted in Chennai has found that the Delta variant has the potential to infect both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, but it reduces mortality among the former group. ...

India has achieved the milestone of conducting a cumulative of 50 crore COVID-19 tests across the country, the Indian Council of Medical Research [ICMR] informed on Thursday. ...

The Union Cabinet was on Wednesday apprised of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the GARDP Foundation on antimicrobial resistance research and innovation to promote mutual cooperation. ...

The Delhi government on Tuesday said the central government has not yet asked them for data regarding oxygen shortage related deaths in the national capital during the COVID-19 second wave. ...

New Delhi, Aug 9 A vaccine, used to treat tuberculosis since the last 100 years, may help prevent ... ...