Measles Vaccine Shows Promising Results Against SARS-CoV-2 In Kids
Measles-Containing Vaccines too can shield children from the dreaded virus. Recent research has shown up to 87.5% efficacy of the former.
The risk of a third COVID-19 wave is looming large. This time around it’s the children who are expected to be at the highest risk from the deadly coronavirus. But according to the findings of a new study, measles-containing vaccines (MCVs) show promising results against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The study conducted at the BJ Medical College in Pune analyzed 548 children between the ages of 1 to 17 years. The participants were categorized into two groups – ones who tested COVID positive and others who did not.
Of the total number of respondents, 274 children were COVID positive. The COVID results were picked through their RT-PCR report. Of these, 216 children were vaccinated with MCV while 58 were unvaccinated.
Researchers found the children vaccinated with MCVs had about 87.5% higher protection against SARS-CoV-2. Such participants were more likely to experience and exhibit less severe COVID symptoms than those not vaccinated with MCV.
The findings of the study are published in the current issue of the international journal, Human Vaccines, and Immunotherapeutics.
“The results of our study indicate that MCVs can be effective against SARS-CoV-2 infection in the pediatric population. This finding, however, needs to be confirmed further through prospective randomized clinical trials,” said pediatrician Nilesh Gujar, the study’s lead investigator.
