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This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.
A long-term surveillance study in New Zealand may contain clues to developing a Covid-19 vaccine.
The national laboratory, ESR monitors more than 2,000 people as part of a large-scale investigation into influenza and the effectiveness of its vaccine.
The programs, called SHIVERS II and WellKiwis, screen both adults for multiple years and newborns up to age seven.
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Participants have swabs and blood drawn each season to control influenza, but a test will also be added for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
Study lead investigator Dr. Sue Huang said expanding to include the Covid-19 virus will help global research better understand the pandemic.
Participants have swabs and blood drawn each season to control influenza, but a test will also be added for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
Huang said this would help get a clearer picture of the virus and what it looks like in a New Zealand population.
“This is a very new virus, we have many gaps in knowledge.”
“We want to understand all of those details, and through this study, we hope that the understanding will help guide vaccine development or guide the focus of immune therapy.”
There was still little information on how people infected with the virus developed antibodies, he said.
Or why young children have milder illnesses, while older people are more prone to serious illnesses.
It was important to understand the difference in immune systems and why people presented differently, he said.
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The study’s principal investigator, virologist Dr. Sue Huang.
In addition to aiding vaccine research, the long-term study of various tests would provide researchers with more data.
“That gives us an idea of the population’s immunity against the Covid virus and, at the same time, if people have not been infected with the Covid virus, we would know that they have no immunity and that they would be susceptible to the Covid virus.”
Public health officials could finally use the data to tailor their response, Huang said.
“Knowing the proportion of asymptomatic or mild disease cases is important, as it will help us understand what is driving this Covid-19 pandemic.”
The studies had previously been limited to one participant in the home, but now involve the entire home because of the information that can be gathered on how the virus spreads.
“The home is a valuable setting for understanding the chain of transmission, the clinical spectrum of disease, and the amount and duration of virus transmission from infected people.”
This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.
