A new human challenge study for COVID-19
Contact us
To get in touch with a member of the study team, please email imperial.humanchallenge@nhs.net
What is the purpose of this study and why participate?
SARS-CoV-2 is the virus responsible for Covid-19 disease. The roll out of licensed vaccines is a positive step towards fighting Covid-19. However, we don’t fully understand why some people who are vaccinated can still get infected.
We would like to develop a safe human infection model (challenge model) where volunteers who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 are exposed to the Omicron BA.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 virus in a controlled manner. Information gained from this initial study will enable future research that may help us understand what kind of immune response stops people from being infected with Covid-19 and the impact of the virus on the immune system. This may eventually help with the development of better Covid 19 vaccines and treatments, and might help develop a test that tells people if they are protected from the virus.
To do this, we need to establish a dose of virus required to cause infection (defined by positive throat and nose swabs) but with the aim of causing minimal or no symptoms. For safety purposes, we will have very strict selection criteria for who can take part and will perform close monitoring of participants (including an inpatient quarantine stay).
Am I eligible to participate?
You must
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You must not
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What’s next?
Please read the full Participant Information Sheet: COVCHIM02 PIS V1.2 24Jun24
If you are interested in taking part, please click here to apply via the pre-screening questionnaire.
For further information about this questionnaire or any aspect of the study, please contact: imperial.humanchallenge@nhs.net
