Researchers are intentionally re-infecting people who have recovered from the Coronavirus

When researchers at the University of Oxford announced in 2020 that they would deliberately expose healthy volunteers who had recently received a potential Covid-19 vaccine for corona, they encountered headwinds. Because human challenge studies, also known as controlled infection studies in humans, are controversial. After all, especially with a nurse like a novel Corona Virus Long-term or long-term consequences cannot be completely ruled out.

However, the team was not deterred: the tests began in March 2020. But the scientists don’t stop there. Now they also want to re-infect people between the ages of 18 and 30 who have already survived the infection.

The goal of the investigation is to find out what kind of immune reaction could protect people from re-infection.

Steady approach

➤ The Study the first stageWorking these days, the university announced. This is to determine the amount of virus required to replenish the coronavirus infection – in a way that increases SARS-CoV-2 infection, but does not cause any serious symptoms.

In the second phase of the study All participants must be exposed to this dose in order for researchers to study their immune response. All of this is happening in a “safe and controlled environment,” officials reassured.

According to the announcement, the volunteers will be infected with the original virus from Wuhan, China, and after that, they will receive medical support for a year. As an expense allowance, each of the test subjects receives a little less than 5,000 pounds, which equates to about 5,770 euros.

High hopes

Study leader Helen McShane stresses the importance of her team’s approach:

“ Challenge studies give us insights that other studies cannot provide because, unlike natural infections, they are strictly controlled.

By re-infecting participants, “we know exactly how their immune system reacted to the first Covid-19 infection, when exactly the second infection occurred and how much virus they received.”

According to McShane, this knowledge should lead to a fundamental improvement in the understanding of pathogens and Illness To lead. It can also help assess how well people are protected from re-infection after surviving a Corona infection.