UK to start testing young people who accept to be infected

The aim of research in the UK is to learn more about the new coronavirus with a view to developing treatments and new vaccines.

A total of 90 volunteers, young and healthy, will be infected with the new coronavirus as part of a study to be carried out in the United Kingdom. The idea is to test vaccines and treatments.

The investigation will begin in the coming weeks and, despite causing some controversy, it has had ethical approval. It is estimated that volunteers will receive a £ 4,500 compensation (just over 5000 euros) for his participation in the research.

Young people, who must be between 18 and 30 years old, will be exposed to the virus in a safe and controlled environment so that doctors can monitor the evolution of their clinical condition.

It is important to discover the smallest amount of coronavirus needed to cause the infection, as well as to understand how the immune system reacts to it, explains a BBC article. They are essential data to improve the knowledge of the disease, so that new vaccines and effective treatments can be developed.

The profile of the participants results from the intention to minimize the risks because healthy young people are unlikely to suffer the most serious and complicated forms of the disease, he said. Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London:

“We hope that the study will offer a unique insight into how the virus works and help us understand which vaccines are most capable of preventing infection, ”a team leader for the British vaccination plan told the BBC.

According to what has been explained, those selected for the test have to undergo several medical examinations. Later they will be internees not Royal Free hospitalin London to comply with a two-day quarantine period. They will then be infected through the nose and will be kept under constant surveillance for at least two weeks.

During the research the variant of the virus that circulated in the UK will be used more or less in the middle of the year of 2020 that will be produced in laboratory.

After the volunteers were discharged, everyone will be followed for a year, in order to also evaluate long-term symptoms.