Researchers at the McGill University Health Centre have found that the old tuberculosis vaccine, BCG, also safeguards against influenza A, suggesting prospective for broader virus defense, including COVID-19. This advancement might considerably influence future vaccine development.As Canadas influenza season collides with record strep A cases and ongoing COVID-19 concerns, a brand-new study is clarifying our understanding of respiratory immune responses. Scholars from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) have found a surprising facet about a century-old vaccine for tuberculosis, Bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG). The research study, published in the journal Nature Immunology, discovered a formerly unknown system that extends the vaccines shield to fight influenza A virus– the most prevalent flu strain.Implications for Vaccine Development” The immune interactions involved here can train the lungs, which are regularly exposed to contagious agents in the environment. If we can map out the protective immune paths involved in the lungs, this will transform our scientific and conceptual approaches in establishing vaccines against infections, including emergent breathing viruses,” explains lead author Maziar Divangahi, a pulmonary immunologist, a senior researcher at the RI-MUHC, and a Professor of Medicine at McGill University.The discovery leads the way for future studies to assess whether BCG might be utilized to avoid other emergent infections. Especially, research study on the vaccines protection versus COVID-19 has actually had promising results.Reference: “BCG immunization induces CX3CR1hi effector memory T cells to provide cross-protection through IFN-γ-mediated experienced resistance” by Kim A. Tran, Erwan Pernet, Mina Sadeghi, Jeffrey Downey, Julia Chronopoulos, Elizabeth Lapshina, Oscar Tsai, Eva Kaufmann, Jun Ding and Maziar Divangahi, 15 January 2024, Nature Immunology.DOI: 10.1038/ s41590-023-01739-z.
