Journal
CELL
Volume 183, Issue 2, Pages 315-+Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.08.051
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Horizon 2020 grant ImmunoSep [847422]
- Hellenic Institute for the Study of Sepsis
Ask authors/readers for more resources
BCG vaccination in children protects against heterologous infections and improves survival independently of tuberculosis prevention. The phase III ACTIVATE trial assessed whether BCG has similar effects in the elderly. In this double-blind, randomized trial, elderly patients (n = 198) received BCG or placebo vaccine at hospital discharge and were followed for 12 months for new infections. At interim analysis, BCG vaccination significantly increased the time to first infection (median 16 weeks compared to 11 weeks after placebo). The incidence of new infections was 42.3% (95% CIs 31.9%-53.4%) after placebo vaccination and 25.0% (95% CIs 16.4%-36.1%) after BCG vaccination; most of the protection was against respiratory tract infections of probable viral origin (hazard ratio 0.21, p = 0.013). No difference in the frequency of adverse effects was found. Data show that BCG vaccination is safe and can protect the elderly against infections. Larger studies are needed to assess protection against respiratory infections, including COVID-19.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available