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 the first period of RECOVER and what we have achieved so far.
In order to tackle the pandemic, governments established various types of advisory boards to provide evidence and recommendations to policy makers. Scientists working on these boards have faced many challenges, including working under significant time constraints to produce ‘evidence’ as quickly as possible. However, their voices are still largely missing in the scientific literature. In a recent qualitative study, the RECOVER social science team explores the views and experiences of scientists working on government advisory boards during the COVID- 19 pandemic, with the aim to learn lessons for future pandemic management and preparedness.
On its 10th anniversary, University of Oxford’s ISARIC (International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium) demonstrates the crucial role of global preparedness and collaboration for advancing knowledge on infectious disease pandemics.
The ESCMID Award for Excellence in Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases is ESCMID’s most prestigious award. For 2020, the ESCMID Executive Committee selected Prof. Herman Goossens as recipient of this prestigious award. Prof. Goossens was given this award in recognition of his important contribution to research and education in the field of clinical microbiology and infectious diseases.
European primary care rapidly adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic by deciding how to transform care delivery, despite limited training and resources, reports the first pan European qualitative study in eight countries.
A new RECOVER study developed a modelling framework to help policymakers assess the use of lockdown as a last resort option, by determining when a lockdown should be adopted to avoid passing a predetermined ICU capacity target and by evaluating situations where a slowly growing epidemic might remain manageable for the healthcare system without the need for a lockdown.
For patients with COVID-19 who are receiving organ support in an ICU, antiplatelet therapy, either with aspirin or P2Y12 inhibitor (which were found to be equivalent), was ineffective at improving the composite endpoint of death and organ support free days when compared to no antiplatelet therapy
The coordination module of the EU-funded projects RECOVER1 and EU-RESPONSE2 has launched its website.
In May 2021, the RECOVER Social Science team has published a new study in British Journal of General Practice exploring the experiences of primary care healthcare professionals’ (PCPs) during the first peak of COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted in eight European countries: England, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Greece, and Sweden, and shows the transformation of primary care during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Adaptive Platform Trial for Community-Acquired Pneumonia, REMAP-CAP, launched its third video. The video shows the global and diverse of REMAP-CAP.