MMR Vaccine May Provide Protection from COVID-19

Aug, 2020 - By SMI

WHO has warned that many countries are experiencing a resurgence in cases, even though they have previously been successful in stopping the spread of the virus.

The world has been fighting a global pandemic (COVID-19) for the past six months and scientists/researchers around the world are busy finding a safe and effective treatment or vaccine to treat COVID-19 patients. However, human trials of many current drugs have not yet shown effects against the novel coronavirus. To date, the virus has infected more than 9,614,845 people and has killed more than 490,141 folks around the world. Now, the researchers suggest that the administration of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine may serve as a preventive measure to prevent septic inflammation associated with COVID-19.

The research was published in the American Society for Microbiology’s journal named mBio. According to the team, MMR vaccination has no contraindications to immunologic individuals and may be particularly effective for health workers who may easily expose to the novel coronavirus. However, recent developments provide support for the researchers' hypotheses. Moreover, epidemiological data suggest a relationship between individuals in geographic locations who receive the MMR vaccine regularly and reduce COVID-19 mortality. Though all age groups are at high risk of contracting the novel coronavirus, children and young individuals are at lower risk compared to older individuals.

Older individuals (aged 60 years or more) with underlying medical problems such as cancer, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease are at high risk of contracting the virus. The team has proposed a clinical trial to determine the effectiveness of the MMR vaccine against the novel coronavirus. However, the researchers suggest that all adults, particularly health workers in nursing homes, should receive the MMR vaccine. Moreover, the University of Oxford has developed a potential COVID-19 vaccine named ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, which is expected to be released in October 2020. The experimental vaccine showed very good results in animals and has now moved to the next phase of human trials.