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It is Micael Dahlberg, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Gävle Public Prosecutor’s Office, who has now decided to initiate a preliminary investigation.
– Initially, my assessment is that it is the researcher responsible for the project who may be suspected of a crime. It is he who must make sure that the proper permits exist, he tells Läkartidningen.
Åke Lundkvist, a professor of virology at Uppsala University, was responsible this spring for a study in which researchers took blood samples for antibody tests from 450 people, all known or relatives of the researchers.
The study was conducted in an association room for a tenant-owner association and the purpose was to study the presence of antibodies and the spread of the new coronavirus.
“Risk of spreading infections”
However, the study was reported to the Ethics Review Appeals Board, which in turn reported it for lack of authorization under the Ethics Review Act.
“The committee also concludes that the procedure may have involved a risk of spreading Covid-19 among researchers and residents of the tenant-owner association. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that the sampling procedure has caused a disease. ‘ wrote the Board of Appeal in its decision.
Åke Lundkvist and his research colleague Björn Olsen, professor of infectious diseases, have stated to the Appeals Board that they did not intend to scientifically publish the test results, writes Läkartidningen. However, the results received a lot of media attention.
Of the people tested, only 7.5 percent had antibodies to the new coronavirus. This was a significantly lower proportion than the Swedish Public Health Agency expected.
– Unlike the calculations presented by the Public Health Agency and others, our data strongly suggest that Stockholm is still in an early stage of the epidemic and far from any kind of herd immunity, Åke Lundkvist told Upsala Nya Tidning in April.
He and Björn Olsen both belong to the so-called “22 researchers”, who have repeatedly voiced public criticism of the strategy of the Swedish Public Health Agency.
“Worth praise, not prosecution”
Sven Britton, a professor emeritus of infectious diseases and one of the test subjects in the study, has previously been quick to defend the researchers. They are “to be commended, not prosecuted,” he wrote in Svenska Dagbladet in August, continuing:
“We in our country need wise and positive initiatives in difficult times and, instead, we should support them even if they can be solved with formal errors as long as they do not have negative consequences for the volunteers and where the results, as in this case, contribute to a greater awareness of the danger to society. “
Expressen has searched for Åke Lundkvist.
Immunity to covid-19 is difficult to assess due to antibodies.
