Prevention Research participation opportunity- COVCHIM02 – COVID-19 Challenge Study
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, in partnership with Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Trust, is carrying out a challenge study, COVCHIM02 – COVID-19, where healthy volunteers are given the virus that causes COVID-19 in order to better understand it.
Purpose of the study
SARS-CoV-2 is the virus responsible for Covid-19 disease. The rollout 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).
Participant eligibility
- Be aged 18-40 years old
- Be in excellent health
- Be willing to travel to the Imperial Clinical Research Facility at Hammersmith Hospital for outpatient visits, and the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for the inpatient stay
- Have received at least one vaccination against Covid-19, and either have previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus (the virus that causes COVID- 19 disease) or have evidence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 (to be checked in the study)
- You must not be pregnant or breastfeeding
- You must not have any significant medical conditions
- You must not be a current smoker, including vaping
The study involves five visits and a 17-day stay in a quarantine unit over a period of around 6 months. Participants will be reimbursed approximately £4,935 for their time and travel.
For more information, please use the following link: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/infectious-disease/research/human-challenge/covchim02/
