A vaccine tested in Africa against Covid-19? We take stock

• Invited to debate on a television set the track of BCG as a treatment for coronavirus, two researchers raised the idea that tests could be carried out in Africa, where there are fewer masks and whose population would therefore be more exposed .
• Netizens, but also politicians and associations, have risen in numbers against these remarks which they consider racist.
• Institutes and researchers point out that current tests are performed in Europe, the USA and Australia, especially those around BCG, and always defend the idea of ​​extending this type of clinical trial in Africa.
• Professor Jean-Paul Mira clarified his remarks.

"If I can be provocative, shouldn't we be doing this study in Africa, where there are no masks?" These words from Professor Jean-Paul Mira, head of the resuscitation service at Cochin hospital in Paris, speaking this Wednesday on LCI about the track of BCG, the vaccine against tuberculosis, to fight against the coronavirus caused the anger and harsh criticism from thousands of Internet users.

In this sequence broadcast live, the professor suggests to Camille Locht, director of research at Inserm, to carry out tests on the African continent: “Shouldn't we do this study in Africa, where there are there no masks, no treatments, no resuscitation? A bit like it is done elsewhere for some studies on AIDS. "And the doctor continued:" Among prostitutes, we try things because we know that they are highly exposed and that they do not protect themselves. "Camille Locht's answer:" You are right, we are in the process of thinking about a parallel study in Africa. "

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On Twitter, the extract posted online and viewed millions of times sparked outrage. "This video really increases my tension, really! "," If I can be provocative, colonization seems to be very much missed by some, "commented Internet users.

Is it me or does he imply that some humans would be more acceptable guinea pigs? It’s not possible 😳😱 horrible .. to hold this kind of remarks it is monstrous

Amandine Gay, director, and Dominique Sopo, president of SOS Racisme, announced their decision to refer the matter to the CSA. The Socialist Party also reacted to this controversial sequence in a press release: “No offense to our two eminent teachers, Africa is not a breeding ground for guinea pigs. We expect LCI to condemn these unacceptable comments without appeal. We ask the Directorate General for Health and WHO to shed light on the practices mentioned. "

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Inserm (National Institute of Health and Medical Research), of which Camille Locht is a member, published a press release in which he mentioned a truncated video which was "the subject of erroneous interpretations": "Clinical trials to test the efficacy of the BCG vaccine against Covid-19 are in progress or about to be launched in European countries and in Australia. If there is indeed a reflection around a deployment in Africa, it would be done in parallel with these. Africa must not be forgotten or excluded from research because the pandemic is global. "

We consulted more widely the sequence of this "questions and answers" to Camille Locht, moderated by Arlette Chabot and entitled "Treatment: the BCG vaccine track". Jean-Paul Mira's question is from 3 ', as you can see below. Just before the comments that shocked internet users, the doctor underlines that “the problem is that we are in confinement with ultraprotected people. It will take a considerable number of patients to see a difference [on the impact of BCG in Covid19 contamination], right? To which Camille Locht responds by confirming that preventive measures such as masks should reduce the frequency of infection in the coming weeks in France. He deduces from this that the study will have to be done on a large scale in several foreign countries, taking care to coordinate the protocols in order to have reliable statistics.

Tests on 4,000 caregivers in Australia

In France, "clinical trials with BCG to see if it can fight against the most severe forms of Covid-19 are underway", confirmed Jean Dubuisson, CNRS researcher at the Lille Center for Infection and Immunity, specializing in the life cycle of human coronaviruses and the host-pathogen relationship, this Tuesday.

About the intervention of Professor Jean-Paul Mira on LCI, the researcher said this Friday at 20 Minutes : “Clinical trials using BCG are being set up in Europe but not yet in Africa. Camille Locht therefore replied that it would be a good idea to be able to also extend this type of clinical trial in Africa and, in this sense, he is absolutely right. The problem in this controversy comes from the way in which Professor Jean-Paul Mira asked the question, which was quite disturbing from an ethical point of view, which led to reactions on social networks. "

"Regarding the BCG vaccine, trials are carried out in Europe and the USA, not in Africa", confirms for his part Frédéric Tangy, CNRS researcher assigned to the vaccine innovation laboratory of the Institut Pasteur. “Besides, BCG does not work very well on this continent, without anyone really knowing why. What is interesting about this vaccine is its non-specific effects. As with the measles vaccine, which has broad anti-infectious properties. The Institut Pasteur has also started to develop a vaccine using the attenuated measles virus.

In Australia, a country mentioned by Inserm in its press release, a team of researchers from the Murdoch Institute in Melbourne announced on Friday March 27 that they had undertaken to test BCG on a category of population: "The test will concern a total of some 4,000 nursing staff in Australian hospitals, "said the researchers.

"Africa could be more exposed to serious forms"

Contacted by The HuffPost, Jean-Paul Mira refutes all racism and explains that he wanted to refer also to the various studies in progress: “Africa is affected, but there are few tests carried out to prove it. It could be even more exposed to serious forms because there will be few masks, and little confinement because of the social structure. It seemed interesting to me that in addition to France and Australia, an African country could participate in this study which I had never heard of before the broadcast. "

Anyway, the researchers want to be careful: the BCG vaccine track is very interesting, but it needs to be explored in rigorous clinical trials. There is no data to date to recommend a BCG vaccination to protect yourself from Covid-19.

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