News:The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is close to finalising projects involving Indian and European scientists to develop new influenza vaccines using a Controlled Human Infection Model(CHIM).
Facts:
About CHIM:
- In a Controlled Human Infection Model(CHIM), a well-characterised strain of an infectious agent is injected to adult volunteers in order to better understand human diseases,
- These studies play a vital role in understanding how diseases spread, and find new ways to prevent and treat them.It will also help in developing new vaccines for infectious diseases.
- The risk in such trials is that intentionally infecting healthy people with an active virus and causing them to be sick is against medical ethics.It also involves putting human lives in danger.
CHIM in India:
- The Controlled Human Infection Model(CHIM) are already being employed in vaccine development in the United States, the United Kingdom and Kenya.India is also considering to adopt CHIM.
- Rather than influenza trials,India would likely develop CHIM protocols to study bacterial or viruses residing in the intestine such as cholera or typhoid.
