Author: esther.kok

RECOVER was initiated as a means to directly tackle the COVID-19 pandemic by acting as PREPARE’s Mode 3 response, the highest response Mode. RECOVER is one of the 18 projects that the European Union has founded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It brings together leading scientists and research institutions to obtain crucial unknown information about the disease through clinical research in order to help the EU fight the virus and save patients’ lives. Now, it is time to look back on one year of RECOVER and what we have achieved so far.

On February 25, the REMAP-CAP paper: “Interleukin-6 Receptor Antagonists in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19” was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. It shows the results of the use of tocilizumab and sarilumab in patients with severe COVID-19. Adult patients with COVID-19 who received organ support in the intensive care unit within 24 hours, were randomly assigned to receive tocilizumab, sarilumab, or standard care. The publication shows that in critically ill patients with COVID-19 receiving organ support in ICUs, treatment with the interleukin-6 receptor antagonists tocilizumab and sarilumab improved outcomes, including survival.

The new SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 detected in the UK is rapidly spreading to other European countries. Due to concerns about these variants and high incidence levels, progressively enhanced social distancing measures were introduced in France in 2021.

Following the signing of the Grant Agreement by the European Commission (EC), ECRAID-Base has secured funding of 30 million euros and will commence March 1st 2021. ECRAID-Base is the core set of activities for ECRAID (the European Clinical Research Alliance for Infectious Diseases), which aspires to become the first of its kind, pan-European clinical research network for infectious diseases in Europe. Over the five-year duration of ECRAID-Base, ECRAID will evolve into a self-sustaining, not-for-profit organisation conducting clinical research for both public and private sponsors.

This decision based on an initial analysis of all severely ill COVID-19 trial participants requiring intensive care unit (ICU) support. This analysis showed that convalescent plasma did not improve outcomes in this group. There was no evidence of harm associated with the administration of convalescent plasma.

Initial findings reported in November showed that tocilizumab, a drug used to treat arthritis, was likely to improve outcomes among critically ill COVID-19 patients. But the impact on patient survival and length of time on organ support in ICU was not clear at that time. Now, the latest analysis shows that tocilizumab and a second drug called sarilumab – both types of immune modulators called IL-6 receptor antagonists – have a significant impact on patient survival, reducing mortality by 8.5%.

Working under pandemic conditions exposes health care workers (HCWs) to infection risk and psychological strain. Protecting the physical and psychological health of HCWs is a key priority. The Social Sciences team of RECOVER assessed the perceptions of European hospital HCWs of local infection prevention and control (IPC) procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on their emotional wellbeing.