British researchers at Imperial College London plan to infect volunteers with the novel coronavirus -

Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP / SIPA

They present their study as a world first.

British researchers from Imperial College London announced on Tuesday that they planned to infect volunteers with the new coronavirus.

The first step of the project is to explore the feasibility of exposing people aged 18 to 30 to SARS-CoV2 in good health and without risk factors.

This initial phase aims to determine how much virus is causing symptoms in a person, explains Imperial College on its website.

It will then be a question of studying "how vaccines work in the body to stop or prevent Covid-19, look at potential treatments and study the immune response" of the body.

Infected "through the nose"

"Our number one priority is the safety of volunteers," said Dr Chris Chiu, who is leading this research in the Department of Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London, noting that his team has conducted such studies on respiratory viruses since. 10 years.

Volunteers will be infected "through the nose," the virus's "natural route", said Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College, who is co-leading the study, on BBC Radio 4.

Volunteers observed under a magnifying glass for two and a half weeks

“The great advantage of these volunteer studies is that we can watch each volunteer very carefully, not only during infection but also before infection and we can monitor what is happening at every stage, including before symptoms develop, ”he added.

The volunteers will have to stay for two and a half weeks, "both to take the samples and monitor their condition very carefully and ensure the safety of the public," he added.

Representing a huge source of information, this research allows us to work on a much smaller number of patients than clinical trials for vaccines, which involve up to thousands of volunteers.

Valuable information on the evolution of research

"Small hundreds or a few dozen volunteers" provide a "very clear idea of ​​whether a vaccine will work" and "how it works", providing valuable information on the evolution of research, added the professor. Openshaw.

Once the parameters of the model have been determined, a phase which should last until May, comparisons between vaccines can then be made, he continued.

"Quite optimistic", he believes that vaccines will be available in limited quantities for those most at risk early next year.

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