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ERGO group responds to the novel coronavirus outbreak

Many groups associated with ERGO are proud to be working on the novel coronavirus outbreak. Just a few of their activities are highlighted below;

A case record form (CRF) designed to enable the collection of standardised clinical data has been made available by the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) at https://isaric.tghn.org/novel-coronavirus/.  ISARIC is a global federation of clinical research networks, providing a proficient, coordinated, and agile research response to outbreak-prone infectious diseases. ISARIC’s purpose is to prevent illness and deaths from infectious diseases outbreaks. 

ERGO is also part of the Platform for European Preparedness Against (Re-)emerging Epidemics (PREPARE) consortium, an EU funded network for harmonized large-scale clinical research studies of infectious diseases. PREPARE have circulated the standardised collection tool for nCoV among the Multi-centre  EuRopean study of MAjor Infectious Disease Syndromes (MERMAIDS) clinical network which includes more than 50 hospitals and primary care clinics in 12 European countries.

The Global Health Network (TGHN), of which ERGO is a member, has produced a pop-up Coronavirus Knowledge Hub at https://coronavirus.tghn.org/, gathering protocols, tools, guidance, and resources to facilitate effective research and preparedness.

ISARIC responding to the Wuhan novel coronavirus outbreak

The International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) is adapting its existing tools, designed for emerging respiratory pathogens, for the current outbreak of global significance. Read more

Stepping up to the challenge: studying drug dosage during an Ebola outbreak

A specialist technique used to study drugs has been completed for the first time during an outbreak of Ebola virus disease.

The study published in eBiomedicine was a collaboration of researchers from Sierra Leone and the University’s of Glasgow, Oxford, Cambridge and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. It used pharmacokinetics – the measurement of the change in drug concentration in a person over time – to study an experimental drug called TKM-130803 for the treatment of Ebola virus disease during the 2015 outbreak in Sierra Leone.

Read the full article on the eBiomedicine site.

Patients Recruited to Lassa Fever Study in Owo, Nigeria

After training the local team, a new observational study into Lassa fever has opened in Owo Federal Medical centre, and patients are already being recruited. The study hopes to improve the case management of Lassa fever by investigating the role of cardiovascular dysfunction, and identifying the most appropriate dose of ribavirin to use as treatment. Work on the study is supported by UK-PHRST, funded by UK aid from the Department of Health and Social Care.

Over 3000 patients for MERMAIDS-ARI, MERMAIDS-ARBO and PED-MERMAIDS!

Coordinated by the European-funded PREPARE network and supported by ERGO, MERMAIDS (The Multi-centre EuRopean study of MAjor Infectious Disease Syndromes) has now closed recruitment for three of its studies on acute respiratory infection, arboviral compatible febrile illness, and Sepsis-like syndrome in infants and ARI in children. 1524 patients were recruited for the ARI study, over 900 for the ARBO study and 705 for the pediatric study . A huge congratulations to all of the sites across Europe who worked with ERGO and PREPARE teams to achieve this fantastic result, particularly in MERMAIDS-ARI which represents the largest ever study of the pathogenesis of ARI.  All sites promise exciting insights in the coming months and years.

Ribavirin Healthy Volunteers Study Open

Our Ribavirin Healthy Volunteers Study is now open for recruitment! The aim of the study is to validate a method of measuring a drug called ribacirin in the blood. Ribavirin is normally used to treat Hepatitis C and other diseases such as Lassa fever, which is a viral infection occuring in West Africa.

Volunteers will be compensated for their time. For more information, see https://ergo.tghn.org/volunteer/ribavirin-volunteer/