Homologous protein domains in SARS-CoV-2 and measles, mumps and rubella viruses: preliminary evidence that MMR vaccine might provide protection against COVID-19

  1. Adam Young
  2. Bjoern Neumann
  3. Rocio Fernandez Mendez
  4. Amir Reyahi
  5. Alexis Joannides
  6. Yorgo Modis
  7. Robin JM Franklin

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Abstract

The COVID-19 disease is one of worst pandemics to sweep the globe in recent times. It is noteworthy that the disease has its greatest impact on the elderly. Herein, we investigated the potential of childhood vaccination, specifically against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), to identify if this could potentially confer acquired protection over SARS-CoV-2. We identified sequence homology between the fusion proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and measles and mumps viruses. Moreover, we also identified a 29% amino acid sequence homology between the Macro (ADP-ribose-1’’-phosphatase) domains of SARS-CoV-2 and rubella virus. The rubella Macro domain has surface-exposed conserved residues and is present in the attenuated rubella virus in MMR. Hence, we hypothesize that MMR could protect against poor outcome in COVID-19 infection. As an initial test of this hypothesis, we identified that 1) age groups that most likely lack of MMR vaccine-induced immunity had the poorest outcome in COVID-19, and 2) COVID-19 disease burden correlates with rubella antibody titres, potentially induced by SARS-CoV2 homologous sequences. We therefore propose that vaccination of ‘at risk’ age groups with an MMR vaccination merits further consideration as a time appropriate and safe intervention.

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    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.04.10.20053207: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variableAge-adjusted case-fatality risk was calculated, separately for males and females, as a percentage.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    We recognise that these data are, at this stage, preliminary and that there are a number of limitations, including the analysis being based on ecological rather than patient-level data, lack of reliable data on vaccine coverage and different ways of counting fatalities (people living in residencies not counted in some countries). Furthermore, there are differences in COVID-19 testing conditions, with mild suspect cases in Spain and Italy recommended to stay home and not tested, and no mass testing in any of the 3 countries studied. Nevertheless, older populations and males are both more likely to die from Covid-19, and less likely to be seropositive for rubella specific immunity, based on historical vaccination programmes of all three countries considered in this study. In order to conclude whether MMR vaccination can improve the outcomes from Covid-19 infection, a study using individual based data to compare MMR immunity status in the affected population is warranted. 3.3 Rubella IgG & IgM titres in COVID-19 patients correlate with disease burden: A further prediction of our hypothesis is that there should be a specific rise in rubella Immunoglobulin G (IgG) titres in COVID-19 patients, and that these should correlate with disease burden as a marker of immunogenicity against SARS-CoV2 [Kim et al., 2020]. To test this, serum samples were collected from patients admitted to Luton & Dunstable Hospital University Hospital (REC: 20/YH/0125) and stratified into 2 groups based on s...

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

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  2. Version published to 10.1101/2020.04.10.20053207v1 on medRxiv