Dow Coad Thomas, Kidess Laith
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, McPherson Eye Research Institute, Madison, WI 53705, USA.
Mindful Diagnostics and Therapeutics, Eau Claire, WI 54701, USA.
Microorganisms. 2022 Sep 27;10(10):1919. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms10101919.
The (BCG) vaccine has been used for over one hundred years to protect against the most lethal infectious agent in human history, tuberculosis. Over four billion BCG doses have been given and, worldwide, most newborns receive BCG. A few countries, including the United States, did not adopt the WHO recommendation for routine use of BCG. Moreover, within the past several decades, most of Western Europe and Australia, having originally employed routine BCG, have discontinued its use. This review article articulates the impacts of those decisions. The suggested consequences include increased tuberculosis, increased infections caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), increased autoimmune disease (autoimmune diabetes and multiple sclerosis) and increased neurodegenerative disease (Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease). This review also offers an emerged zoonotic pathogen, ss. (MAP), as a mostly unrecognized NTM that may have a causal role in some, if not all, of these diseases. Current clinical trials with BCG for varied infectious, autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases have brought this century-old vaccine to the fore due to its presumed immuno-modulating capacity. With its historic success and strong safety profile, the new and novel applications for BCG may lead to its universal use-putting the Western World back onto the road not taken.
卡介苗（BCG）疫苗已被使用了一百多年，用于预防人类历史上最致命的传染病——结核病。全球已接种超过40亿剂卡介苗，大多数新生儿都接种了卡介苗。包括美国在内的一些国家没有采纳世界卫生组织关于常规使用卡介苗的建议。此外，在过去几十年里，大多数原本常规使用卡介苗的西欧国家和澳大利亚已停止使用。这篇综述文章阐述了这些决定所产生的影响。所暗示的后果包括结核病增加、非结核分枝杆菌（NTM）引起的感染增加、自身免疫性疾病（自身免疫性糖尿病和多发性硬化症）增加以及神经退行性疾病（帕金森病和阿尔茨海默病）增加。本综述还提出了一种新出现的人畜共患病原体——副结核分枝杆菌（MAP），它是一种大多未被认识的非结核分枝杆菌，可能在这些疾病中的一些（如果不是全部）中起因果作用。目前针对各种传染病、自身免疫性疾病和神经退行性疾病使用卡介苗的临床试验，由于其假定的免疫调节能力，使这种有百年历史的疫苗备受关注。鉴于其历史上的成功和良好的安全性，卡介苗的新应用可能会使其得到广泛使用，让西方世界走上未选择的道路。
