Pune study suggests measles is effective against SARS-CoV-2 | Pune News

PUNE: A study by researchers at BJ Medical College here found early evidence showing that measles (MCV) vaccines may offer children some protection against the virus SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The case-control study analyzed 548 participants, aged 1 to 17, who were split into two groups – those who tested positive for Covid (via RT-PCR) and those who haven’t. Researchers found that CVDs had an 87.5% vaccine efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 and that vaccinated participants had less severe Covid symptoms than unvaccinated ones.

Pune’s findings support a much debated hypothesis that children are fairly protected against SARS-CoV-2 due to “non-specific immunity” after inoculation with live attenuated vaccines, including MCV vaccines and the vaccine. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). The measles vaccine has been part of India’s universal immunization program for 36 years.
The research from BJ Medical College was published this month in the international peer-reviewed journal Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics.
The researchers said that while their results are encouraging, more trials would be needed before a definitive conclusion can be drawn about the protection offered by CVD against infection with SARS-CoV-2.
“The results of our study indicate that CVD may be effective against SARS-CoV-2 infection in the pediatric population. This finding, however, needs to be further confirmed by prospective randomized clinical trials, ”said pediatrician Nilesh Gujar, principal investigator of the study.
In India, the measles vaccine is given at 9 months and 15 months. In 2018, the Union government launched the Measles and Rubella Elimination Campaign to cover children under 18 who had not received the vaccine at these ages. Children included in the Pune study had documented evidence of vaccination.
The impact of SARS-CoV-2 was less on the pediatric population than on adults. But experts said children can be important facilitators in the transmission of the virus. Currently, only Pfizer the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (not yet available in the country) has been approved for children (12-15 years old). Trials are underway in India to find a vaccine suitable for children.
“The case-control study evaluated the effectiveness of CVD in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection and reducing its severity,” said community medicine expert Muralidhar Tambe, dean of BJ Medical College and Sassoon Hospital and one of the researchers.
According to the available data, during the period 2019-2020, the national coverage of the first dose of CVD varied between 72.5% and 96.2%. Coverage for the second dose ranged from 11.7% to 44.4%.
The researchers said their study assessed the effectiveness of CVD against SARS-CoV-2, not its effectiveness.
“Efficacy is the degree to which a vaccine prevents disease, and possibly transmission, under ideal and controlled circumstances (comparing a vaccinated group to a placebo group). Efficacy refers to its performance in the real world, ”said vaccine researcher Prasad Kulkarni, one of the researchers in the study.
Other members of the research team included Malangori Parande, Nandkumar Salunke, Ganesh Jagdale, Sarah Anderson, Abhijeet Dharmadhikari, and Anand Lakhkar.
Infectious disease expert Sanjay Pujari, member of the National Covid-19 Working Group, said: “The science is progressive, in the sense that it continues to enrich existing knowledge. Such studies add to and strengthen what we already knew. ”