Cholera immune response profiling in Zambia
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Profiling vaccine-mediated and natural immunity to Vibrio cholerae through single-cell sequencing approaches during a cholera outbreak in Zambia
IRAS ID
348098
Contact name
Nicholas Thompson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Wellcome Sanger Institute
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Cholera is characterised by acute watery diarrhoea and severe dehydration and poses a significant global health burden especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Deployment of oral cholera vaccines (OCVs) in such LMICs with endemic cholera is often limited by resource shortages and thus suboptimal dosing regimens may be implemented. Such is the case in Zambia, where there has been an ongoing cholera outbreak since October 2023, and most patients receive one dose of the OCV Shanchol instead of the recommended two doses. Moreover, the biology underlying vaccine-mediated immunity compared to the immune response mounted against natural infection is not well-understood. We thus aim to compare the immune response to vaccination and natural infection of cholera, using single cell sequencing approaches to explore the heterogeneity of gene expression across cell types.
The study will be a collaboration between the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) and the Wellcome Sanger Institute using pre-collected samples from adults over the age of 18, in Zambia, who have provided informed consent, have no pre-existing medical conditions, and who live within the catchment area of the CIDRZ. Blood and stool samples from 60 adults, pre-collected as part of an ongoing study in Zambia, will be used and there will be no prospective sampling as part of this study. Only blood samples will be used to explore human genomic data through single-cell transcriptomic sequencing of peripheral mononuclear cells and antibody assays of the serum.
REC name
South Central - Oxford A Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/SC/0354
Date of REC Opinion
31 Oct 2024
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion