PITCH-2 (V1.0)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Protective Immunity from T Cells in Healthcare workers 2
IRAS ID
300413
Contact name
Susanna Dunachie
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Whether or not there is lasting immunity to COVID-19, induced by either vaccination or natural exposure, has been a critical outstanding question in this pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 is now established in the human population forever. The only true route back to “normal” pre-pandemic life is to understand what protective immunity is and how to generate it without causing many thousands of deaths in the process. Current vaccines deployed in the UK have a high effectiveness against severe disease and mortality, but do not generate sufficient lasting immunity to either interrupt transmission or take the burden off acute health services, and it is therefore essential to study which measurable immune factors correlate with protection, including in the high-risk groups. This knowledge will form the basis of second-generation vaccine design, and will also inform lockdown and shielding policy, by identifying who is protected from re-infection and who is not. The study framework offers the further opportunity for longitudinal study of immune responses to respiratory viruses in healthcare workers that contribute to “winter pressures”, such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
The PITCH-2 study will support several national platform studies (PITCH, VIBRANT, ISARIC4C/PHOSP, SCORPIO, PETREA, OCTAVE, OCTAVE-DUO and STRAVINSKY), to address the question of whether T cell responses contribute to protection against asymptomatic infection and severe disease upon exposure to SARS-CoV-2. PITCH-2 will also support questions around host factors including mucosal immunity, genetics, antibody and T cell immunity in people with undetectable antibodies post RT-PCR confirmed SARS-CoV-2 or vaccination, the immune response of people with documented recurrent infections with SARS-CoV-2 and/or infections after vaccination, and the relationship between baseline T cell immunity and response to vaccination. PITCH2 will also provide a framework for investigation of other important pathogens impacting healthcare workers including influenza and RSV.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/NW/0280
Date of REC Opinion
22 Sep 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion