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The world’s first study on the human challenge for Covid-19 is expected to start in London next January. Their goal: healthy young adults are infected with purified Sars-CoV-2 viruses under supervision to answer important questions that would not be possible by examining patients. We are initially looking for 50 healthy volunteers between 18 and 30 years of age. Researchers are currently awaiting approval from a specially appointed ethics committee and also from the British Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
On the one hand, the study should look more closely at the course of infection and disease than before. In the first phase, the researchers want to determine, among other things, the lowest virus dose needed for infection. The immune response should also be examined more closely. In the spring, more volunteers would be given a candidate vaccine first and then the coronavirus. This makes it quicker to determine which vaccine prevents infection, as there is no need to wait for test subjects to get infected naturally.
Parallel development of multiple candidates
The advantage of this approach is that researchers can study multiple vaccine candidates in parallel to see which is most effective. This will accelerate the development of Covid-19 vaccines. Furthermore, human provocation studies also help investigate treatments other than vaccination.
Volunteers will be isolated for the duration of the study, which will last several weeks, in a biosecurity ward at the Royal Free Hospital and will be monitored for up to one year after discharge to determine any side effects. You will also receive a payment.
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“Deliberately infecting volunteers with a known human pathogen is never taken lightly,” Peter Openshaw of Imperial College London said in a statement. “However, such studies are extremely informative about the disease, even a well-researched one like Covid-19. It is really important that we get effective vaccines and other treatments for Covid-19 as soon as possible.”
The UK government has pledged £ 33.6 million (€ 37.2 million) for the study, which was organized in partnership with hVIVO, a company specializing in human virus studies. Diseases for which hVivo has already conducted human provocation studies include typhus, norovirus-related gastrointestinal infections, and influenza.
The risks remain great
Studies on the human challenge are hotly debated and carry unmistakable risks. Volunteers could become seriously ill and even die. Because, unlike previous human provocation studies, there is no effective treatment for the disease under study, although many in-depth studies are currently underway.
As the Washington Post writes, participants in the British Challenge study will receive the recently approved drug Remdesivir, which is controversial for its effectiveness.
(vsz)
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