Scientists at Oxford University plan to reinfect dozens of adult volunteers with the coronavirus in the UK’s second clinical trial to study deliberate quarantined Covid-19 infection, this time among people who have already recovered from the virus.
These “human challenge” trials are controversial because they involve intentionally infecting healthy humans, and the UK is the only country conducting them so far with Covid-19, the researchers said.
The new trial focuses on exploring the limits of human immunity and the effects of the virus on the body from the time of reinfection. A better understanding of protection against previous diseases will help speed up new treatments and vaccines, Oxford researchers say.
The first study of the Covid-19 challenge, led by infectious disease researchers at Imperial College London, began in March with a handful of isolated volunteers at the Royal Free Hospital in London, part of the National Health Service funded by the state. This study received a pledge of more than $ 45 million from the UK government.
The Oxford essay is funded by the London-based charity Wellcome Trust. Up to 64 people between the ages of 18 and 30 will be quarantined in staggered phases inside Oxford University hospitals at approximately 17-day intervals, starting next month, according to Helen McShane, a vaccinologist. of Oxford leading the trial.