Immunology expert Dr. Richard OKennedy, Qatar Foundation Vice President for Research, Development, and Innovation, explains how COVID-19 testing works - and why developing a vaccine takes time.

The rapid pace at which coronavirus continues to spread across the world has inevitably raised questions about testing, vaccines, and potential treatments including why testing for the virus appears difficult and time-consuming, how long a vaccine will take to develop, and how it will work once it has been developed.

Dr. Richard OKennedy, Qatar Foundation Vice President for Research, Development, and Innovation, and an immunology expert, says:

Adding to the complexity of developing accurate testing kits is the urgency with which the world is seeking these tests. However, as Dr. OKennedy points out, the companies developing them need to ensure they are validated and approved before they can move to the mass manufacturing stage, with the process rendered even more difficult due to the speed with which coronavirus (COVID-19) cases worldwide have risen:

A vaccine for coronavirus (COVID-19) has been the subject of discussion since the start of the outbreak, with such conversations often failing to recognize that the vaccine development process can take as long as 10-15 years. However, given the severity and ever-changing consequences of the current global pandemic, specialists in several countries are working around the clock on research that is aimed at developing a vaccine within a much shorter timescale.

As Dr. OKennedy explains, the immune system is essentially a series of defense mechanisms within the human body. People can play their own part in ensuring something that may look to attack their body does not have the opportunity to do so, which explains why healthcare professionals unanimously agree that the best course of action is to keep washing hands and observe social distancing guidelines.

When an infection does get through these precautions, the immune system creates antibodies to fight and counteract it. However, every so often, a virus such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) mutates and evades the human immune system.

Dr OKennedy said

A vaccine can be described as something that activates or primes the immune system. The way the polio vaccine the success rate of which has contributed to the near-elimination of polio worldwide works, for instance, is that the human immune system is exposed to a small, inactive dose of the virus to activate an immune response. This immune response allows the body to defend itself against the virus.

Dr. OKennedy said.

The consequences of prematurely introducing a vaccine that turns out to be unsafe are potentially severe. In order to prevent this, vaccines go through rigorous testing and clinical trials, contributing to the timescales involved in introducing them.

In the meantime, the global medical community is exploring potential treatments using combinations of existing drugs. One that has gained a high profile is Chloroquine, an antimalarial drug, but its effectiveness is subject to trial results.

Dr. OKennedy said:

Source: QF

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The way to beat coronavirus (COVID-19) from testing to vaccination - ILoveQatar.net