Human challenge study: Difference between revisions

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A '''human challenge study''', also called a '''challenge trial''' or '''controlled human infection model''' (CHIM), is a type of [[clinical trial]] for a [[vaccine]] or other [[drug|pharmaceutical]] involving the intentional exposure of the test subject to the condition tested.<ref name="lamb">{{Cite journal|last1=Lambkin-Williams|first1=Rob|last2=Noulin|first2=Nicolas|last3=Mann|first3=Alex|last4=Catchpole|first4=Andrew|last5=Gilbert|first5=Anthony S.|date=22 June 2018|title=The human viral challenge model: accelerating the evaluation of respiratory antivirals, vaccines and novel diagnostics|journal=Respiratory Research|volume=19|issue=1|pages=123|doi=10.1186/s12931-018-0784-1|issn=1465-993X|pmc=6013893|pmid=29929556 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="eyal">{{Cite journal|last1=Eyal|first1=Nir|last2=Lipsitch|first2=Marc|last3=Smith|first3=Peter G.|title=Human challenge studies to accelerate coronavirus vaccine licensure|url= |journal=The Journal of Infectious Diseases|doi=10.1093/infdis/jiaa152|date=31 March 2020|volume=221|issue=11|pages=1752–1756|pmid=32232474|pmc=7184325| name-list-style = vanc }}</ref><ref name="callaway">{{Cite journal|vauthors=Callaway E |date=April 2020|title=Should scientists infect healthy people with the coronavirus to test vaccines?|journal=Nature|volume=580|issue=7801|pages=17|doi=10.1038/d41586-020-00927-3|pmid=32218549|bibcode=2020Natur.580...17C|s2cid=256820005 |doi-access=}}</ref> Human challenge studies may be ethically controversial because they involve exposing test subjects to dangers beyond those posed by potential [[side effect]]s of the substance being tested.<ref name=eyal/><ref name=callaway/>

During the mid 20th and 21st century, the number of human challenge studies has been increasing.<ref name="Adams-Phipps">{{cite journal |last1=Adams-Phipps |first1=Jupiter |last2=Toomey |first2=Danny |last3=Więcek |first3=Witold|last4=Schmit |first4=Virginia|last5=Wilkinson |first5=James|last6=Scholl |first6=Keller|last7=Jamrozik |first7=Joshua|last8=Roestenberg |first8=Meta|last9=Manheim |first9=David|title=A Systematic Review of Human Challenge Trials, Designs, and Safety|journal=Clinical Infectious Diseases|date=11 October 2022 |volume=76 |issue=4 |pages=609–619 |doi=10.1093/cid/ciac820 |pmid=36219704 |pmc=9938741 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="cohen16">{{cite journal|url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.352.6288.882|title=Studies that intentionally infect people with disease-causing bugs are on the rise|first=Jon|last=Cohen|journal=Science|doi=10.1126/science.aaf5726|date=18 May 2016|volume=352 |issue=6288 |pages=882–885 }}</ref> A challenge study to test promising vaccines for prevention of [[COVID-19]] was under consideration during 2020 by several vaccine developers, including the [[World Health Organization]] (WHO),<ref name="who-chall">{{Cite web|title=Key criteria for the ethical acceptability of COVID-19 human challenge studies|url=https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/331976/WHO-2019-nCoV-Ethics_criteria-2020.1-eng.pdf|publisher=World Health Organization|date=6 May 2020|access-date=18 May 2020}}</ref><ref name="cohen20">{{Cite journal|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/speed-coronavirus-vaccine-testing-deliberately-infecting-volunteers-not-so-fast-some|title=Speed coronavirus vaccine testing by deliberately infecting volunteers? Not so fast, some scientists warn|last=Cohen|first=Jon|date=31 March 2020|journal=Science|doi=10.1126/science.abc0006|s2cid=216451224|access-date=19 April 2020}}</ref> and was approved in the UK in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|title=World's first coronavirus Human Challenge study receives ethics approval in the UK|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/worlds-first-coronavirus-human-challenge-study-receives-ethics-approval-in-the-uk|access-date=18 February 2021|website=GOV.UK|language=en}}</ref>

Over the second half of the 20th and the 21st centuries, vaccines for some 15 major pathogens have been fast-tracked in human challenge studies – involving about 30,000 participants – while contributing toward vaccine development to prevent [[cholera]], [[Typhoid fever|typhoid]], [[Flu season|seasonal flu]], and other infections.<ref name="mcmaster">{{Cite web|title=McMaster researcher contributes to WHO guidelines for COVID-19 vaccine testing|url=https://brighterworld.mcmaster.ca/articles/mcmaster-researcher-contributes-to-who-guidelines-for-covid-19-vaccine-testing/|author=Wade Hemsworth|publisher=McMaster University Medical School, Hamilton, Canada|date=13 May 2020|access-date=25 May 2020}}</ref> Since the 1980s, challenge trials which reported about [[Adverse event|adverse events]] have had only 0.2% of patients with serious adverse events.<ref name="Adams-Phipps" />