Background The Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine may confer cross‐protection against viral diseases in adults. This study evaluated BCG vaccine cross‐protection in adults with convalescent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). Method This was a multicenter, prospective, randomized, placebo‐controlled, double‐blind phase III study (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04369794). Setting: University Community Health Center and Municipal Outpatient Center in South America. Patients: a total of 378 adult patients with convalescent COVID‐19 were included. Intervention: single intradermal BCG vaccine ( n = 183) and placebo ( n = 195). Measurements: the primary outcome was clinical evolution. Other outcomes included adverse events and humoral immune responses for up to 6 months. Results A significantly higher proportion of BCG patients with anosmia and ageusia recovered at the 6‐week follow‐up visit than placebo (anosmia: 83.1% vs. 68.7% healed, p = 0.043, number needed to treat [NNT] = 6.9; ageusia: 81.2% vs. 63.4% healed, p = 0.032, NNT = 5.6). BCG also prevented the appearance of ageusia in the following weeks: seven in 113 (6.2%) BCG recipients versus 19 in 126 (15.1%) placebos, p = 0.036, NNT = 11.2. BCG did not induce any severe or systemic adverse effects. The most common and expected adverse effects were local vaccine lesions, erythema ( n = 152; 86.4%), and papules ( n = 111; 63.1%). Anti–severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 humoral response measured by N protein immunoglobulin G titer and seroneutralization by interacting with the angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 receptor suggest that the serum of BCG‐injected patients may neutralize the virus at lower specificity; however, the results were not statistically significant. Conclusion BCG vaccine is safe and offers cross‐protection against COVID‐19 with potential humoral response modulation. Limitations: No severely ill patients were included.

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Background The non-adoption of behavioral changes to control diabetes mellitus contributes to a low adherence to self-care. This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with non-adoption of healthy behaviors among diabetic individuals. Methods Cross-sectional study using data from the National Health Survey (Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde) carried out in 2013 in Brazil, with adults (≥18 years) (n = 3098). The outcome variable was the non-adoption—two or fewer—of healthy behaviors. Logistic regression model was used to identify the factors associated with non-adoption of healthy behaviors. Results Approximately, 50% of the participants adopted two or fewer healthy habits and the most frequently mentioned were not drinking excessively (94.1%) and not smoking (89.1%). Not using diabetic medication (odds ratio (OR) = 1.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.02–1.85), not making regular doctor visits (OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.08–1.87), no limitation of usual activities (OR = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.01–1.94) and good self-rated health (OR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.09–1.98) increased the chance of individuals non-adoption of healthy behaviors independently of gender, age, schooling and economic status. Conclusions Health professionals need to be aware of issues, such as diabetic medication use, frequency of doctor visits, limitation of usual activities and good self-rated health, which are factors that can interfere with the adoption of healthy behaviors of diabetic patients.