Could an Unrelated Live Attenuated Vaccine Serve as a Preventive Measure To Dampen Septic Inflammation Associated with COVID-19 Infection?
Open Access
- 30 June 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Society for Microbiology in mBio
- Vol. 11 (3)
- https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.00907-20
Abstract
We propose the concept that administration of an unrelated live attenuated vaccine, such as MMR (measles, mumps, rubella), could serve as a preventive measure against the worst sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). There is mounting evidence that live attenuated vaccines provide nonspecific protection against lethal infections unrelated to the target pathogen of the vaccine by inducing “trained” nonspecific innate immune cells for improved host responses against subsequent infections. Mortality in COVID-19 cases is strongly associated with progressive lung inflammation and eventual sepsis. Vaccination with MMR in immunocompetent individuals has no contraindications and may be especially effective for health care workers who can easily be exposed to COVID-19. Following the lead of other countries conducting clinical trials with the live attenuated Mycobacterium bovis BCG (BCG) vaccine under a similar concept, a clinical trial with MMR in high-risk populations may provide a “low-risk–high-reward” preventive measure in saving lives during this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.Keywords
Funding Information
- Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (R01AI116025)
This publication has 10 references indexed in Scilit:
- Detection of Covid-19 in Children in Early January 2020 in Wuhan, ChinaThe New England Journal of Medicine, 2020
- Clinical course and risk factors for mortality of adult inpatients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: a retrospective cohort studyThe Lancet, 2020
- Developing the concept of beneficial non-specific effect of live vaccines with epidemiological studiesClinical Microbiology & Infection, 2019
- Spectrum of Trained Innate Immunity Induced by Low-Virulence Candida Species against Lethal Polymicrobial Intra-abdominal InfectionInfection and Immunity, 2019
- Candida/Staphylococcal Polymicrobial Intra-Abdominal Infection: Pathogenesis and Perspectives for a Novel Form of Trained Innate ImmunityJournal of Fungi, 2019
- Non-specific effects of BCG vaccine on viral infectionsClinical Microbiology & Infection, 2019
- Immune Protection against Lethal Fungal-Bacterial Intra-Abdominal InfectionsmBio, 2018
- BCG Educates Hematopoietic Stem Cells to Generate Protective Innate Immunity against TuberculosisCell, 2018
- Early BCG-Denmark and Neonatal Mortality Among Infants Weighing <2500 g: A Randomized Controlled TrialClinical Infectious Diseases, 2017
- Emergence of a Novel Swine-Origin Influenza A (H1N1) Virus in HumansThe New England Journal of Medicine, 2009