Trained Immunity: a Tool for Reducing Susceptibility to and the Severity of SARS-CoV-2 Infection

SARS-CoV-2 infection is mild in the majority of individuals but progresses into severe pneumonia in a small proportion of patients. The increased susceptibility to severe disease in the elderly and individuals with co-morbidities argues for an initial defect in anti-viral host defense mechanisms. Long-term boosting of innate immune responses, also termed “trained immunity,” by certain live vaccines (BCG, oral polio vaccine, measles) induces heterologous protection against infections through epigenetic, transcriptional, and functional reprogramming of innate immune cells. We propose that induction of trained immunity by whole-microorganism vaccines may represent an important tool for reducing susceptibility to and severity of SARS-CoV-2.