Tuberculosis vaccine strengthens immune system

A tuberculosis vaccine developed 100 years ago also makes vaccinated persons less susceptible to other infections. While this effect has been recognized for a long time, it is not known what causes it. Together with colleagues from Australia and Denmark, researchers from Radboud university medical center the universities of Nijmegen and Bonn have now presented a possible answer to this question. Their results are also interesting against the background of the Covid-19 pandemic: several studies are currently testing the use of the vaccine in preventing severe disease progression in populations at risk such as hospital staff and elderly individuals. The study is published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe. The BCG vaccine (the abbreviation stands for Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) is the only vaccine that provides effective protection against infections with the tuberculosis bacterium. Since its first medical application in 1921, it has been used billions of times. An unexpected side effect...