The first trial of its kind is set to start in the UK, with healthy volunteers being sought to be deliberately infected with COVID in a human challenge test.
The study will seek 90 healthy volunteers aged 18-30 to be infected with COVID in a safe, controlled environment. Among the study’s objectives is a desire to find out exactly how much of a viral load is needed to infect someone with COVID.
The window of opportunity in the UK for a large-scale study of this type is gradually closing because eventually it will no longer be possible to find people have not been vaccinated. However, a significant amount of information can be gleaned from even small-scale studies. This includes how second-generation vaccines compare to how well vaccines protect against new variants.
Human challenge tests have been an important part of developing understanding of and treatments for a number of diseases. The first human challenge trials for dengue fever took place in the 1900s. Although abandoned in favour of animal testing, animals were not sufficiently close to humans to advance research. Recent human challenge trials helped to develop an effective vaccine for the disease.
Clive Dix, interim chair of the Vaccines Taskforce, explained: “We have secured a number of safe and effective vaccines for the UK, but it is essential that we continue to develop new vaccines and treatments for Covid-19.
“We expect these studies to offer unique insights into how the virus works and help us understand which promising vaccines offer the best chance of preventing the infection.”
Applicants will be screened, including determining if they had COVID before, and then be intranasally infected with the virus. Volunteers will receive compensation of £4500 (about R90 000) over the course of a year, which will include follow-up tests.
Source: BBC News
