Oral Polio Vaccine to Mitigate the Risk of Illness and Mortality During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: A Cluster-Randomized Trial in Guinea-Bissau.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Oral polio vaccine (OPV) may improve resistance to non-polio-infections. We tested whether OPV reduced the risk of illness and mortality before coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines were available.

Methods

During the early COVID-19 pandemic, houses in urban Guinea-Bissau were randomized 1:1 to intervention or control. Residents aged 50+ years were invited to participate. Participants received bivalent OPV (single dose) or nothing. Rates of mortality, admissions, and consultation for infections (primary composite outcome) during 6 months of follow-up were compared in Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for age and residential area. Secondary outcomes included mortality, admissions, consultations, and symptoms of infection.

Results

We followed 372

SUBMITTER: Fisker AB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9494416 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature