A team of researchers in Louisiana has proposed a method of combating the coronavirus: issuing booster doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, CNN reported.
The MMR vaccine is a “live vaccine,” using highly weakened versions of the measles, mumps and rubella viruses to provide protection to the immune system that goes beyond just the injected viruses. The MMR vaccine works to boost general immunity, as well as train the body to recognize specific viruses, which may be effective in combating COVID-19.
The vaccine boosts a patient’s immunity, which may allow greater protection against the coronavirus.
“There is mounting evidence that live attenuated vaccines provide nonspecific protection against lethal infections unrelated to the target pathogen of the vaccine by inducing ‘trained’ nonspecific innate immune cells for improved host responses against subsequent infections,” Paul Fidel of Louisiana State University and Mairi Noverr of Tulane University wrote in a letter to microbiology journal mBio.
Fidel and Noverr propose clinical trials with MMR vaccines in high risk populations. They claim these trials could provide a “‘low-risk-high-reward’ preventative measure in saving lives,” in their letter. The potential benefits of issuing the vaccine may be especially effective for protecting health care workers, CNN reported.
Though, this is not a proposed vaccination.
“We emphasize this is strictly a preventive measure against the worst inflammatory sequelae of COVID-19 for those exposed/infected and does not represent an antiviral therapy or vaccine against COVID-19 in any manner,” Fidel and Noverr explained.
As the race for a COVID-19 vaccine continues, companies like Johnson & Johnson have expedited their research and development in hopes of finding a vaccination. On June 10th, the company announced that they would accelerate their initiation of in-human trials, expected to begin in the second half of July.
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org
President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown is exposing just how dependent some U.S. industries have…
[Vice President] JD Vance [was] suspended from X competitor Bluesky just 12 minutes after [his]…
The Democrats lost the war in November and also lost their way. They surrendered the…
Iran is reportedly weighing blocking a key commercial choke point known as the Strait of…
Governor Walz calls I.C.E. agents Nazis and Gestapo as left wing Violence continues to rage.…
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom immediately tried to spin a major setback in his lawsuit against…