Corona current: 18-year-old can be infected voluntarily

Corona current
Young can be infected voluntarily – for science

The corona crisis has been keeping the world on its toes for over a year – we still don't have it under control. Numerous measures have been implemented in our everyday life to protect ourselves and others from corona infection. Meanwhile, an 18-year-old boy in London is voluntarily infected. What sounds absurd at first glance is for him an act of sacrifice for the common good.

Alastair Fraser-Urquhart is one of 90 participants in a British study by the research company hVivo. It takes place at Imperial College London and is intended to provide information about the coronavirus infection. The test subjects are between 18 and 30 years old – and all of them voluntarily allow themselves to be infected with the coronavirus.

Corona study should bring clarification

"My parents are not overly enthusiastic," reports Alastair Fraser-Urquhart of the BILD newspaper. That is hardly surprising. Although the test subjects in the study are all said to have been examined for previous illnesses and risks – there is still a residual risk. What drives them So boys start to voluntarily expose themselves to this risk?

The participants receive 5,000 euros for participating. But the money shouldn't play a role for Alastair. Rather, the 18-year-old is completely selfless: "We need the information that we get in order to cope with the pandemic," BILD quotes him.

Intentional injection of coronavirus particles

In the study, the participants should first be injected with an increasing number of virus particles in order to find out how much virus the disease is triggered and when symptoms occur. The course should then be carefully examined.

Finally, drugs and vaccinations should also be tested on the subjects. In order not to endanger other people, the infected also had to remain in isolation for 16 days as part of the study.