LONDON (CU)_The United Kingdom launched a trial on Monday (19 April), which will deliberately expose volunteers who had already had COVID1-9 to the virus once again, in order to examine if they will get re-infected. A couple of months ago, the European nation became the first country in the world to give the green light for these studies, which are known as “challenge trials”, in which participants are deliberately exposed to the Coronavirus, in order to advance crucial research on the disease.
However, in the study launched in February, the participants were infected by the virus for the first time, while the recent trial seeks to re-infect those who have already had COVID-19.
“The information from this work will allow us to design better vaccines and treatments, and also to understand if people are protected after having COVID, and for how long,” Helen McShane, the chief investigator on the study from the University of Oxford, said.
According to her, the trial will also help researches understand any possible immune responses of COVID-19 patients which would protect them from being re-infected.
In the first phase, which began on Monday, up 64 healthy volunteers, between the ages of 18 and 30, who were infected with the virus at least three months ago will be exposed to the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 once again.
These participants will then quarantined and monitored for at least 17 days, and if any of them develops symptoms, they will be treated with the Regeneron monoclonal antibody treatment, which was given to former US President Donald Trump when he was hospitalised after testing positive for COVID-19.
COVID-19 is not the first disease to prompt the so-called human challenge trials. For decades scientists have used this form of study to learn more about and develop treatments for some of the deadliest diseases in history, including typhoid, malaria, flu and cholera.
