Risk of severe COVID-19 can be reduced via routine MMR & Tdap vaccines, study reveals

A new study claims that Tetanus-Diphtheria-Pertussis (Tdap) and Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccines  give increased protection against the COVID-19. The study, which was carried out by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in the United States, also found that these vaccines, which are given to children, are helpful in reducing the severity of the disease. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Tdap preventive is administered every 10 years, whereas, the MMR vaccine is administered during the early period of childhood. The researchers opined that these vaccines create memory T-cells and B-cells that help in developing a strong and lasting immune response. 

'People previously vaccinated with either MMR or Tdap vaccines have fewer chances of dying of COVID-19' 

According to the study, in an attempt to characterise T-cell responses to antigens, researchers used sensitive and new techniques while conducting laboratory-base analyses. The research found out that T-cells and B-cells have the capacity to respond to antigens present in other diseases, including the viral antigens in Sars-CoV-2. Andrew Lichtman, the co-author of the study, stated that the research reveals people with COVID-19 who were earlier vaccinated with either MMR or Tdap vaccines had much lower chances of dying of COVID-19. Presenting the data, he further stated that people vaccinated with Tdap had a 23% decrease in hospitalisation while those who had previously been vaccinated for MMR had seen a 23% decrease in hospitalisation.

'High buildup of the coronavirus in the lungs is likely behind the steep mortality rates' 

However, a recently conducted study by the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, US which was published in the journal Nature Microbiology, found that a high buildup of the coronavirus in the lungs is likely behind the steep mortality rates witnessed during the pandemic. The study also outlined the new findings the contradicted previous suspicions that simultaneous infections played a major role in a heightened risk of death in the coronavirus infection. Medics have also suspected that the symptoms flared during the COVID-19 infection may have contributed to the mounting death toll. The researchers revealed in the study that people who died of COVID-19 had on average 10 times the amount of virus, or viral load, in their lower airways as did severely ill patients who survived their illness.   

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