Transboundary and emerging diseases
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Transbound Emerg Dis · Apr 2021
Citizen science initiative points at childhood BCG vaccination as a risk factor for COVID-19.
Current results do not provide conclusive evidence on the effect of BCG vaccination on COVID-19 alone or in combination with other factors. To address this limitation, in this study we used a citizen science initiative on the COVID-19 pandemic to collect data worldwide during 2 October 2020-30 October 2020 (1,233 individuals) in a structured way for analysing factors and characteristics of affected individuals in relation to BCG vaccination. ⋯ A reasonable explanation for this effect is the activation of certain innate immunity mechanisms associated with inflammatory reactions. These factors should be considered when analysing the risks associated with this global pandemic.