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;
RECOVERY Trial: Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy
Led by ERGO's Peter Horby, this national clinical trial aims to identify treatments that may be beneficial for adults hospitalised with confirmed COVID-19. The trial is being conducted in over 130 NHS hospitals across the UK. Adult patients who have been admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are being invited to take part, and more information can be found at https://www.recoverytrial.net/. Over 10,000 patients have now been recruited, which makes this is the world's largest trial of potential COVID-19 treatments.
Watch Peter discussing the trial below;
NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections (EZIs)
From April 2020, an existing successful Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections has been bolstered by the addition of collaborators from the University of Oxford and ERGO. More information on its newest iteration can be found here.
The group is currently redirecting the majority of its research efforts into COVID-19. The ‘Knowledge Mobilisation, Public and Community Involvement’ strand, led by Professor Sally Sheard (University of Liverpool) and Dr Nina Gobat (University of Oxford) is undertaking an ongoing project on “Understanding the dynamics of policy development and healthcare worker behaviour in the UK during the COVID-19 public health emergency”.
This project is analysing the UK pandemic response by collecting real-time responses from senior policymakers and stakeholders (PHE, DHSC, NHS) and the frontline experiences of healthcare workers, and by studying media and document sources. Their findings will inform senior policymakers.
Read their latest briefing by clicking on the link below.
Health care workers and policy advisors tell the Government: act to avoid a second wave
ALERRT
The African coaLition for Epidemic Research, Response and Training (ALERRT) is a multi-disciplinary consortium building a patient-centered clinical research network to respond to epidemics across sub-Saharan Africa. For the latest on their COVID-19 activities, including progress on the implimentation of the ALERRT COVID-19 Clinical Characterisation Protocol (CCP), please see the dedicated page at https://www.alerrt.global/content/covid-19.
ISARIC
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.org/research/covid-19-clinical-research-resources/. 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.
PREPARE
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.
TGHN
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.