MMR vaccine could prevent sepsis that kills many Covid patients, doctors discover
PATIENTS with coronavirus could be given an MMR vaccine in order to ease severe effects of the illness, doctors have discovered.
US scientists at Tulane University are testing whether the measles vaccine could prevent sepsis, a condition that has killed many Covid-19 sufferers.
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A study published in The Lancet, found that high rates of sepsis were found in coronavirus patients in China.
It comes after researchers in the UK warned that more children could be at risk of contracting measles because they have missed their jabs during lockdown, sparking fears of an outbreak of the deadly condition.
A study conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found immunisation rates, which were already at a seven-year low, have dropped significantly compared to this time last year.
Those going to have their jabs fell by a quarter during lockdown and many children are now unprotected from the illnesses.
What is the MMR vaccine?
The MMR is a safe and effective combined vaccine that protects against three separate illnesses – measles, mumps and rubella, which is also known as German measles – in a single injection.
The full course of MMR vaccination requires two doses, and is administered at one year of age, and at around three years four months.
What are the side affects?
The NHS has outlined some of the typical side effects of the vaccine.
- Mild measles for up to 11 days after the jab
- High tempreature and loss of appetite for two to three days
- Three to four weeks after some chidren have mild mumps
- Up to three weeks after some adult women can have painful joints
- Children could have an allergic reaction to the jab
It means 3,500 fewer children have had the jab compared to this time last year.
Now, researchers at Tulane in Louisiana say the MMR jab could help combat the inflammatory immune response that has killed many Covid-19 patients.
The researchers looked at mice that had sepsis and that had also been vaccinated against measles.
A vaccination has not yet been found for Covid-19 but scientists hope that the MMR jab might be able to combat the virus.
If their research is successful, it may explain why many children who have had their MMR jab, have not become ill from the coronavirus.
The MMR jab is given to children across the world in order to protect them from measles mumps and rubella.
The jab works by giving the patient a small dose of the virus for the immune system to fight off.
The jab primes the body to respond to a more potent virus.
Because of this it may be the case that the immune systems of those with the jab will not react in a severe way to Covid-19.
Panic mode
People don’t have antibodies to the coronavirus, which is why many cases are so severe - as it sends the body into panic mode.
When the body tries to fight infection the immune system sends more cells to fight it.
Multi-system inflammation is then caused, which is known as sepsis.
Dr Mairri Noverr at Tulane said the jab worked on mice.
Researchers induced mice with sepsis, which then died within 48 hours.
But when they were given the MMR jab they were untouched by other illnesses.
Dr Noverr said: “We've seen these vaccines cause an immune response that controls inflammation.
“Live attenuated vaccines have all these nonspecific benefits, and, while this wouldn’t be an immune response against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, it could tone down the inflammation directly associated with Covid-19 mortality.
“I thought that perhaps the reason why children were more protected in early stages of Covid was the fact that they get these vaccines.”
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Dr Noverr said even if the jabs do not protect against coronavirus, they may give people an added layer of protection against other illnesses.
She said that anywhere from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of patients who were critically ill with Covid-19 developed sepsis.
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In order to test the success of the jab it will have to be tested on animals with coronavirus.
Researchers hope the jabs will be used as “immune boosters” during the pandemic.
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