Southampton to take part in national study recruiting immunocompromised people to assess prevention of COVID-19 infection
Southampton researchers are taking part in a national study recruiting more than 35,000 immunocompromised people to determine their immune response to COVID-19 vaccination and future risk of infection, hospitalisation and survival over six months.
The study aims to inform vaccination strategies and identify those who could benefit from other interventions such as monoclonal antibodies or other prophylactic therapies.
Immunocompromised people tend to be the least likely to develop an antibody response following vaccination against COVID-19, but within this cohort there are huge variations between individuals and different immune conditions.
Evidence has shown overall that this group is more likely to have severe infection with increased morbidity and mortality, even following two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and therefore may remain unprotected from COVID-19. As a result, this group of patients has been advised to receive a third primary dose of vaccine, which was recently extended to a fourth vaccine.
The study will investigate solid organ transplant recipients, people with blood cancer and people with rare autoimmune conditions receiving immunosuppression.
Sean Lim, an Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant in Haematological Oncology at the Centre of Cancer Immunology, is leading the recruitment of patients with blood cancer.
She said: “Patients with blood cancers have weakened immune systems because of their disease or treatment and are therefore could be at greater risk of developing severe COVID-19 and less likely to be protected by vaccines. As more patients receive more vaccines, we need to assess their antibody responses and how they impact on hospitalisation and survival.”
People eligible for the blood cancer cohort of the study will receive a letter and be invited to participate.
This study aims to recruit more than 35,000 people who are at least 21 days following their third vaccine dose, and follow them for six months to investigate:
· the proportion of immunosuppressed patients who have detectable COVID-19 antibodies following three doses of COVID-19 vaccines
· whether a lack of an antibody response correlates with the subsequent risk of COVID-19 infection and severity of the disease
Findings from the study will be used for the development of effective protection and management strategies of COVID-19 infection in the 500,000 immunosuppressed people in the UK. The data will also help to inform whether immunocompromised people should be prioritised for alternative treatments like monoclonal antibodies to provide passive immunity.
The study is funded by the Medical Research Council in collaboration with several health charities including Kidney Research UK, Blood Cancer UK, Vasculitis UK, and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, and it will be led by researchers at Imperial College London.
The study will also open to recruit transplant recipients in the first instance, followed by the other patient groups in the near future. Transplant recipients may self-register by going to www.melodystudy.org.