At exactly 11:04 a.m. on April 6, 2022, I stood within a medical isolation facility and gulped down a solution of Shigella flexneri bacteria, surrounded by half a dozen nurses and doctors in protective equipment. I contracted dysentery, the signature condition caused by the Shigella family.
What would possess someone to do such a thing? I drank the bespoke pathogenic cocktail as part of what's known as a "human challenge study" run by the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. In a human challenge study, adult volunteers are exposed to a pathogen. The study I was involved in was intended to test an experimental vaccine. The process may sound somewhat medieval, but these studies are critical scientific tools that prioritize participant safety. From 1980 to 2021, over 15,000 volunteers have been exposed to one of dozens of diseases in such studies, and not one has died.
