Episode 56: Megan Murray | A Massive Future for an Old Vaccine? | Click to Listen

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After On Podcast #56: A Massive Future for an Old Vaccine?

Harvard epidemiologist Megan Murray has been studying tuberculosis for decades - as well as the "BCG" vaccine, which fights TB. BCG has been administered to more people than any other vaccine in history, it costs as little as 8¢ per dose, it's made by over 20 manufacturers across the globe, and has deep distribution channels in a majority of countries. This makes mounting evidence that it could be highly protective against Covid quite tantalizing.

Megan Murray

But what’s truly electrifying about BCG are signs that it could be protective against a remarkably broad spectrum of respiratory infections. Which could hardly matter more, because any future pandemic that we face is enormously likely to be respiratory in nature. Which means BCG could become a foundational weapon in our public health arsenal.

As Megan tells us, validating studies urgently need to be done to prove out, or disprove this possibility — as well as BCG’s emerging promise as a treatment for conditions as diverse as Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.