[ad_1]
The goal is to serve as a guinea pig to accelerate the development of a vaccine.
(Fiona Goodall / Getty Images)
While everyone seeks to escape the new coronavirus, there are those who accept being infected of their own free will. But it is for good reason, of course. The American NGO 1 day Before, Made up of doctors and epidemiologists, it calls on volunteers to evaluate the effectiveness of Sars-CoV-2 vaccines in humans.
The organization is not affiliated with any company that is funding or developing vaccines. There is no prediction, then, when the volunteers would enter the scene. In any case, the the group is already large; 3,900 people from 52 countries registered until Monday afternoon (27).
But, to understand what creating this platform means for vaccine development, it is necessary to know how the tests that lead to immunization work. We are used to that classic method: after testing with cells in the laboratory and with animals, the vaccine begins to be applied to human volunteers. They they are randomly subjected to the compound and placebos, then return home. Scientists are monitoring to see if that person will be infected with the virus or not, and then they compare the numbers to see if the vaccine has served its purpose: if the group that took the placebo gets sicker than the one that received the vaccine, we have a good indication that the vaccine works. The problem is that this study takes months or years.
To speed things up, there is another lesser known but also widely used method of “challenge trials in humans ” (“human challenge” test). In this case, the volunteer receives the immunization in the test and is necessarily infected with the virus that causes the disease. He doesn’t come home. It is under observation during the incubation period of the virus. Therefore, it is easy to identify whether there was an immune response or not, and to treat the person if the compound does not work.
It is for this type of study that 1 Day Sooner is recruiting volunteers, hence the name of the organization (“the day before”, in reference to speeding up vaccine research).
But what is the difference between the methods in terms of effectiveness? In the most classic study, the results may not be certain, since after the person receives the compound or the placebo, they continue with their life normally (in the case of Covid-19, taking basic care). Then there is the dead end: you may not develop the disease due to immunization or simply because you have not had contact with the virus. We have already challenge trials in humans This doubt does not exist. The great advantage for scientists is saving time. They do not need to monitor the person for months, but only for a few weeks; if the volunteer does not develop the disease, despite having received an injection with the virus, we have an indication that the vaccine works. With the help of 1 Day Sooner, things get even simpler as it speeds up the volunteer recruitment process.
Although the platform facilitates the meeting between individuals and research laboratories, there is also a way to take the direct path. It is the case of Queen Mary BioEnterprises Innovation Centerin London, which offers £ 3,500 (R $ 25,000) to anyone who agrees to participate in testing his vaccine.
It is also necessary to remember that these volunteers are risking their lives. Therefore, in addition to money, they can receive full medical assistance and preference in the use of emergency equipment, such as respirators.
The method of directly infecting humans has already been used in other situations, such as finding vaccines against the flu, malaria, typhoid, dengue and cholera. In a round of tests for a malaria vaccine in 2019, volunteers received £ 2,500 (R $ 17,000).
To date, there are six potential vaccines for Covid-19 in the clinical trial phase, i.e., human trials. Meanwhile, 77 remain in the preclinical phase, with laboratory and animal tests. Look here the list WHO with all companies and types of vaccines in development. Within a favorable scenario, the vaccine should arrive in one year.
1DaySooner volunteers must be between 20 and 45 years old and must not have pre-existing diseases, that is, they must be outside the risk group.
