The whole world has been scrambling for more than a year and a half to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Against the tide, some are voluntarily contaminated for a good cause: to advance science. This is what Alastair Fraser-Urquhart and Jacob Hopkins, two Englishmen aged 19 and 23, have chosen to do. Last year, at the end of the first confinement and while scientists around the world were looking for a cure for this pandemic, both decided to participate in the collective effort by registering for a "challenge infectious ”, a study that relies on direct contamination of its participants, in order to learn more about the virus and find more vaccines.
"I did not know the principle, but I saw an ad on social networks and I quickly thought that it was great if it could help us find a vaccine and end this pandemic", recalls for The Parisian Jacob Hopkins, who quickly signed up, without knowing much more.
"Then I looked into the subject, I got in touch with 1Day sooner
(Editor's note: a collective that transmits information on trials and guides volunteers)
and I became passionate about the subject," he says .
A craze widely shared by Alastair Fraser-Urquhart.
The one who was still a student last year now works full time for the association.
Faster, but riskier
Once the first step of registration was completed, we had to… wait.
Because if volunteers have flourished in many countries, a viral challenge is not trivial.
According to its defenders, it allows to go much faster than phase 3 of research for a vaccine.
But it also presents more risks.
Admittedly, this only targets young people between 18 and 30 years old, in good health.
But the possibility of developing a serious form, or even dying, cannot be completely ruled out: it is 1 in 10,000 for this category of people, according to the 1Day sooner site.
Which poses bioethical problems.
Only the United Kingdom has launched this study so far.
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It wasn't until last December that history student Jacob Hopkins was recalled. The young man was summoned in January to a preselection meeting to take stock of his state of health. "I did not hear from me until the end of February, two weeks before my participation," he continues. Two weeks during which he was invited to "consent information meetings", "to verify that we know what we are getting into," he comments. A tedious moment, which passes through the reading, with doctors, of a document of 35 pages to evoke the stakes and the risks - "including that of dying", completes Alastair Fraser-Urquhart. What to worry about the volunteers? "It is not an easy decision, but the risk did not seem disproportionate to me, especially since we are exposed all the time to the virus",analyzes the young Englishman.
Then comes the time to isolate yourself at home.
A Covid test was passed two days before the launch.
“Mine was very negative: I was therefore sent a taxi at 5 am to take me to the hospital,” recounts the history student.
A supervised journey to avoid any risk of contamination so close to the start of the study.
Relief from being infected
However, arriving inside the medical building is not a sign of success. “We spend two days in observation, doing a whole battery of tests and we can still be eliminated during this period, it's very stressful,” says Jacob Hopkins. Then, the deliverance: "The researchers came to my room and confirmed to me that I was going to be part of the study." What to give him the impression of having "gained something" and to bring out a paradox, noticed by the two boys: "For months, you say to yourself O
h my God, I cannot have the Covid-19 for not to be disqualified
, then once at the hospital, you say to yourself Oh
my God, I hope I will have it,
”summarizes Alastair Fraser-Urquhart.
To contaminate the volunteers, doctors inoculate them with the virus via a liquid solution sent into each nostril. “There were five of them in my room, it was quite impressive,” describes Jacob Hopkins, who was the first of the very first group to receive the Covid. After inoculation, participants should remain lying down for 10 minutes, then sitting for another 20 minutes. At least two weeks of intense surveillance then began, along with a ministerial schedule. “They wake us up at 6 am and we don't go to bed before 11 pm”, remembers the young Englishman. Days punctuated by blood tests, temperature measurements and nasal samples.
For Alastair Fraser-Urquhart, as for Jacob Hopkins, symptoms appeared after four days. If the first does not want to reveal too much, since the study is still in progress, and explains to us that he simply felt slightly indisposed, the second is more talkative and evokes the "typical symptoms of Covid, nothing of excessive: a little fever and loss of smell afterwards ”. When the virus level is low enough, volunteers can go home. But the follow-up doesn't stop there. For a year, participants have regular medical appointments.
If only British people were able to participate in the study, other people had registered across the world, including Emmanuelle, a 35-year-old Frenchwoman. She too had heard of the infectious challenge "by chance". “I told myself that it was a risk that I was quite ready to take,” confides this professor. But the test is not authorized in France, its registration was not successful. What create a little disappointment. And, here again, highlight the particularity of this study, capable of creating disappointment among those who cannot be contaminated with Covid-19.