Childhood Vaccines MMR & TDP May Protect Against Severe COVID-19

New Delhi: After nearly a year of study and speculation, researchers are now saying that the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine, given during early childhood, and Tetanus-Diphtheria-Pertussis (Tdap) vaccine, given every 10 years, may help lower the risk of severe COVID-19.

Using data from more than 75,000 patients who had tested positive for COVID-19 between March 8, 2020, and March 31, 2021, researchers from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the US found that patients who had previously been vaccinated for MMR had a 38 per cent decrease in hospitalisation and a 32 per cent decrease in ICU admission/death. Similarly, patients previously vaccinated for Tdap had 23 per cent and 20 per cent decreased rates, respectively, of these outcomes, IANS reported.

Their results, published in the journal Med, found “an association where individuals with COVID-19 who had either MMR or Tdap vaccines had a much lower frequency of going to the intensive care unit or dying”. The study also emphasised the importance of routine vaccination for children and adults, which have been affected in many countries due to COVID.

“Although MMR and Tdap are not a substitute for Covid-19 vaccines they may afford greater and more durable protection, possibly against emerging spike variants than the Covid-19 vaccine alone,” Tanya Mayadas, a senior scientist in the Brigham’s Department of Pathology and Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School was quoted as saying.

“And in areas where the Covid-19 vaccines are not available, they could protect infected individuals from developing severe disease,” she added.