Curing autoimmunity

[ThinkGutBacteria]

So there's this Harvard professor who's close to possibly curing type 1 diabetes (the autoimmune version) with the BCG vaccine (for tuberculosis). She thinks it holds promise for other autoimmune conditions as well. Is there anyone out there whose child has received this vaccine? Not sure just one dose would help (Dr. Faustman used 2/month) but I'm curious.

 

http://www.faustmanlab.org/clinicaltrial/clinicalt.html

[nicklemama]

My DS had the bcg vax when he was just a few days old. He was born in Russia and we adopted him at 6 months of age. It hasn't stopped PANS.

 

One more thing. It's not terribly effective on TB. I think that's why it is not a standard vax in the US. My friend from Britain has also had this vax.

Edited February 4, 2013 by nicklemama

[SurfMom]

My daughter, 15, also had the BCG and she too was adopted from Russia. She has a diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis.

 

Always looking for an answer though. Thanks for sharing!

[ThinkGutBacteria]

Yeah, one dose won't work for most people. Faustman even says so in her most recent PLoS paper. I think she's on a very exciting track however. As for BCG not working well for TB, it depends on where geographically you live. See the fascinating work of John Stanford and Graham Rook in Good Germs, Bad Germs by Jessica Snyder Sachs, a must read for us types!