Review
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
BCG Vaccine – The Road Not Taken
Version 1
: Received: 8 September 2022 / Approved: 12 September 2022 / Online: 12 September 2022 (09:36:16 CEST)
How to cite: Dow, C.; Kidess, L. BCG Vaccine – The Road Not Taken. Preprints 2022, 2022090139. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202209.0139.v1 Dow, C.; Kidess, L. BCG Vaccine – The Road Not Taken. Preprints 2022, 2022090139. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202209.0139.v1
Abstract
The Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine has been used for over one hundred years to protect against the most lethal infectious agent in human history, tuberculosis. Over four billion BCG doses have been given and, worldwide, most newborns receive BCG. A few countries, including the United States, did not adopt the WHO recommendation for routine use of BCG. Moreover, within the past several decades, most of Western Europe and Australia, having originally employed routine BCG, have discontinued its use. This review article articulates the impacts of those decisions. The associated consequences include increased tuberculosis, increased infections caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), increased autoimmune disease (autoimmune diabetes and multiple sclerosis) and increased neurodegenerative disease (Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease). This review also offers an emerged zoonotic pathogen, Mycobacterium avium ss. paratuberculosis (MAP) as a mostly unrecognized NTM that may have a causal role in some, if not all, of these diseases. Current clinical trials with BCG for varied infectious, autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases have brought this century-old vaccine to the fore due to its presumed immuno-modulating capacity. With its historic success and strong safety profile, the new and novel applications for BCG may lead to its universal use –putting the Western World back onto the road not taken.
Keywords
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG); tuberculosis; Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM); nonspecific effects; Trained Immunity; Type 1 Diabetes; Multiple Sclerosis; Parkinson’s Disease; Alzheimer’s disease; Mycobacterium avium ss. paratuberculosis (MAP); molecular mimicry; Global Burden of Disease
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Immunology and Allergy
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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