The research team that led the first trial which deliberately exposed individuals to the virus that causes Covid-19 said on Wednesday (Feb 2) that the first “human challenge” has been been found to be safe.
However, Singaporeans commenting on this are expressing skepticism over how “safe” it is to get infected with Covid.
The study, which began last February in London, involved inoculating 36 healthy young males and females aged between 18 to 29 with a low dose of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Each was given the dose via droplets in the nose, and monitored carefully for a full year afterwards.
Human challenge trials have been carried out over the past decades in the endeavor to find out more about such sicknesses as malaria, flu, typhoid and cholera, as well as to develop both vaccines and treatments for them, said Reuters’ report on the findings.
The report quotes the chief investigator and professor of infectious diseases at Imperial College London, Chris Chiu, as saying, “People in this age group are believed to be major drivers of the pandemic and these studies, which are representative of mild infection, allow detailed investigation of the factors responsible for infection and pandemic spread.”
The study found that none of the participants suffered serious adverse events from their exposure to Covid.
Reuters quoted pharmaceutical company Open Orphan, which ran the study together with Imperial College, the UK’s vaccines task force, and clinical company hVIVO, as saying that the trial had shown to be “safe and well-tolerated in healthy young adults”.
However, the study has not yet been peer-reviewed.
Of the participants, 18 became infected, with 16 developing mild to moderate symptoms similar to that of having a cold. They included sore throat, a stuffy or runny nose, and sneezing.
Thirteen of those infected lost their sense of smell, but 10 regained it within 90 days. The other three improved over the three months that followed.
After six months, only one infected participant reported having a diminished sense of smell, but that condition was also improving.
None of the participants developed serious symptoms or experienced changes in their lungs, although several experienced headaches, muscle or joint aches, tiredness, and fever.
The team of researchers will start a similar trial using the Delta variant. In April 2021 a separate team at Oxford began another human challenge trial involving Covid reinfection.
Last March, after the first participants were released from quarantine, Professor Peter Openshaw, co-investigator on the study, who is Professor of Experimental Medicine at Imperial College London, explained the significance of the trial: “This is vital research to understand the course of disease in those with mild infections and to investigate the detailed natural history of SARS-CoV-2 infection.”
However, netizens commenting on the Facebook page of CNA, which carried the story, seemed to have more questions about the study.
One commenter seemed to feel that the size of the study was too small
/TISG
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