Epidemiological Determinants of Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 Disease Pandemic and The Role of the Bacille-Calmette-Guerin Vaccine in Reducing Morbidity and Mortality

This study analyzed the determinants of morbidity, mortality, and case fatality rate (CFR) of the ongoing pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 disease 2019 (COVID-19). Data for 210 countries and territories available in public domains were analyzed in relation to mandatory vaccination with Bacille-Calmette-Guerin (BCG), population density, median age of the country population, health care expenditure per capita, life expectancy at birth, healthy life expectancy, literacy rate, per capita gross domestic production adjusted to purchasing power (PPP), burden of tuberculosis (TB), acquired immunodeficiency disease caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-AIDS), malaria, cardiovascular disease (CVD), neoplasm, diabetes, deaths due to energy-protein (food) deficiency (EPD), and per capita government spending on safe water and sanitation. Mandatory BCG vaccination showed a highly significant (p