AFP, published on Wednesday May 13, 2020 at 6:21 p.m.
The Institut Curie has just launched a study on the presence or absence of antibodies to the new coronavirus among its staff, which plans to include 2,500 volunteers, in order to study their presence and their persistence over time.
“The study will allow to know if all the people who have little or no symptoms of Covid-19 disease make antibodies and how long they persist”, says to the AFP Dr. Olivier Lantz, specialist in immunology .
“700 volunteers have already been included,” he said, recalling that the Paris region is one of the regions very affected by the epidemic. It is estimated that in Ile-de France, 10% to 15% of the inhabitants were affected, he noted.
The study, conducted with Franck Perez (CNRS / Institut Curie) in collaboration with the Institut Pasteur (team of Thierry Rose), plans to include 2,500 healthy volunteers over a period of 3 months, from the end of April to the end of July, note Wednesday the Parisian cancer institute.
“People who make antibodies a priori have acquired immunity, but for how long: six months to a year as for a common cold coronavirus or for a duration greater than 3 years like SARS-Cov-1, close cousin of the current virus? “wonders Dr. Lantz.
The constitution of a collection of sera from blood samples, thanks to this clinical study, should contribute to the exploration of the multiple questions concerning antibodies (frequency, duration, protective effect …).
The serological test for antibodies used, adapted to broadband to test a large number of people, is a test of the Institut Pasteur.
The latter also works more specifically on the search for strongly neutralizing antibodies, capable of blocking the new coronavirus, among the antibodies produced by the body.
The researchers also wish to test the various serological techniques for detecting antibodies at high throughput.
Secondly, the study will identify the nature of the different antibodies.
“This large-scale study will provide us with valuable information on the immune response of an active population and allow us to validate a reliable serological detection technique,” said Professor Pierre Fumoleau, director general of the hospital complex. Institut Curie, which brings together three establishments in Paris, Saint-Cloud and Orsay participating in the study.
The duration of participation in the study for each volunteer is six months maximum. This involves four visits, the first at inclusion, then one month, three months and six months after. At each visit, the volunteer will answer a short questionnaire and have a blood test.
–
