Clinical Human Infection Model – CHIM

In CHIM, the researchers infected healthy volunteers with a weak strain of pathogen in a controlled setting. This helped them to learn more about infection and develop new vaccines. The model helps in the following

• It helps to study about the pathogen
• It helps to learn how the pathogen transmits the disease
• It also gives a clear picture of the progression of the disease.
• It helps to learn how the individual body responds to the infection
• It paves way to formulate a treatment to encounter the disease.

About the model

In the CHIM process, the volunteers are infected with weakened pathogens in a controlled setting. They are then monitored for 5 weeks. The volunteer might get mild fever and nausea as side effects. The process to learn about the infection, disease and also develop new vaccine for the disease. However, the only concern with respect to the process is that there are chances for the poor community to get exploited.

CHIM in India

Indian researchers developed a typhoid strain. However, it was tested in Oxford University, UK. This is because India holds an ethical obligation that clinical trials cannot be done on humans.

CHIM process and ROTA virus

Rota Virus was tested using the method. It showed 90% efficacy in other countries while only 50% in India. Similarly, other oral vaccinations for polio and cholera tested using the method showed good results in other countries but when implemented in India after tests, the efficacy was low.