Abstract
The first case of the novel Coronavirus disease, named COVID-19, was reported in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019. The illness has variable manifestations, ranging from common cold to the more severe Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). While the mortality rates of SARS and MERS was estimated to be approximately 12% and 30%, respectively, the mortality rates in cases of COVID-19 is estimated to be much lower at around 4.03%.[1] Nevertheless, the pandemic of COVID-19 is an issue that needs to be taken seriously. However, there are striking differences on how COVID-19 is behaving in different countries. For instance, in Italy, where even though social interactions were severely curtailed, the mortality is quite high as compared with Japan, where the mortality is low despite not adopting restrictive social isolation measurements. Even in India, which is the second most populous country in the world, the mortality rates are pretty low as compared with Italy and other European nations. While these differences have been attributed to cultural norms as well as differences in medical care standards, an alternative explanation could be the national policy on Bacillus Calmette–Guerin (BCG) vaccination.
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