<p>Human challenge&nbsp;trials, where young and healthy volunteers are deliberately infected with COVID-19, to accelerate the development of&nbsp;vaccines for the disease, are a gamble with a long pedigree.</p>

<p>Although challenge trials are now very carefully monitored, they go back more than 200 years.</p>

<p><strong>Historical precedent</strong></p>

<p>In 1796, the English physician Edward Jenner took a calculated gamble that the feared killer disease smallpox could be avoided by someone who had previously had the much milder cowpox.&nbsp;</p>

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<p>Jenner purposefully gave the eight-year-old son of his gardener cowpox, then – presumably with hope and trepidation –&nbsp;a dose of smallpox. The boy did not develop smallpox and humans were on their way to the first successful eradication of a deadly viral infection.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Human challenge trials have since been used to accelerate cures for cholera, typhoid fever, malaria, tuberculosis, influenza, whooping cough, and dengue fever.</p>

<p><strong>World's first human challenge trial for COVID-19</strong></p>

<p>Now, the United Kingdom is set to join&nbsp;the world's first human challenge trial for COVID-19 – intentionally infecting healthy young volunteers to speed up the search for a vaccine.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The government said it would invest 33.6 million pounds ($43.5 million) in the studies in partnership with Imperial College London, laboratory and trial services company hVIVO, and the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.</p>

<p>If approved by regulators and an ethics committee, the studies would start in January with results expected by May 2021, the government said.</p>

<p>Britain's hVIVO, a unit of pharmaceutical services company Open Orphan, said on Friday it was carrying out preliminary work for the trials.</p>

<p>Using controlled doses of virus, the aim of the research team  will initially be to discover the smallest amount of virus it takes to cause COVID-19 infection in small groups of healthy young people, aged between 18 and 30, who are  at the lowest risk of harm, the government said.</p>

<p>Up to 90 volunteers could be involved at the early stage, it said.</p>

<p>Imperial College's Chris Chiu, lead researcher on the human challenge study, said the trials could increase understanding of COVID-19 in unique ways and accelerate development of the many potential new treatments and&nbsp;vaccines.</p>

<p>"Our number one priority is the safety of the volunteers," he said. "My team has been safely running human challenge studies with other respiratory viruses for over 10 years. No study is completely risk free, but the Human Challenge Programme partners will be working hard to ensure we make the risks as low as we possibly can."</p>


Human challenge trials, where young and healthy volunteers are deliberately infected with COVID-19, to accelerate the development of vaccines for the disease, are a gamble with a long pedigree.

Human challenge trials, where young and healthy volunteers are deliberately infected with COVID-19, to accelerate the development of vaccines for the disease, are a gamble with a long pedigree. Although challenge trials are now very carefully monitored, they go back more than 200 years. Historical precedent In 1796, the English physician Edward Jenner took a calculated gamble that the feared killer disease smallpox could be avoided by someone who had previously had the much milder cowpox. × Jenner purposefully gave the eight-year-old son of his gardener cowpox, then – presumably with hope and trepidation – a dose of smallpox. The boy did not develop smallpox and humans were on their way to the first successful eradication of a deadly viral infection. Human challenge trials have since been used to accelerate cures for cholera, typhoid fever, malaria, tuberculosis, influenza, whooping cough, and dengue fever. World's first human challenge trial for COVID-19 Now, the United Kingdom is set to join the world's first human challenge trial for COVID-19 – intentionally infecting healthy young volunteers to speed up the search for a vaccine. The government said it would invest 33.6 million pounds ($43.5 million) in the studies in partnership with Imperial College London, laboratory and trial services company hVIVO, and the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. If approved by regulators and an ethics committee, the studies would start in January with results expected by May 2021, the government said. Britain's hVIVO, a unit of pharmaceutical services company Open Orphan, said on Friday it was carrying out preliminary work for the trials. Using controlled doses of virus, the aim of the research team  will initially be to discover the smallest amount of virus it takes to cause COVID-19 infection in small groups of healthy young people, aged between 18 and 30, who are  at the lowest risk of harm, the government said. Up to 90 volunteers could be involved at the early stage, it said. Imperial College's Chris Chiu, lead researcher on the human challenge study, said the trials could increase understanding of COVID-19 in unique ways and accelerate development of the many potential new treatments and vaccines. "Our number one priority is the safety of the volunteers," he said. "My team has been safely running human challenge studies with other respiratory viruses for over 10 years. No study is completely risk free, but the Human Challenge Programme partners will be working hard to ensure we make the risks as low as we possibly can."

Deliberate COVID-19 infection: The gamble with a long pedigree

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Deliberate COVID-19 infection: The gamble with a long pedigree