Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Rady Kid’s Hospital-San Diego have joined a nationwide study to higher understand the long-term impact of COVID-19 on patients in america across all demographic groups.
The $1.15 billion, four-year study, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is known as the RECOVER Initiative (Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery). The aim is to higher understand “post-acute sequelae of the SARS-CoV-2″ infections or PASC, more commonly often called ‘long-COVID.'”
Long-COVID refers to symptoms that persist for weeks or months after acute COVID-19 infection. Symptoms include pain, headaches, fatigue, “brain fog,” shortness of breath, anxiety, depression, fever, chronic cough, and sleep problems. In some affected children and adults, PASC includes multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C and MIS-A), a condition where different body parts can turn into inflamed, including the guts, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs. Any of those symptoms can have a profound impact on quality of life.
Greater than 90 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported in america because the pandemic began in early 2020, in line with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The incidence of long-COVID just isn’t precisely known, but current data suggests 10 to 30 percent of those that have an acute infection will experience persistent symptoms lasting not less than one month. Preliminary data suggests PASC may disproportionately affect certain socioeconomic and demographic groups, including groups that can be represented inside the UC San Diego/Rady study.
We’re excited to be a component of this national effort to learn more about long-COVID and the aspects that put someone in danger for developing this condition.”
Kelan Tantisira, MD, professor and chief of the Division of Respiratory Medicine at Rady Kid’s Hospital-San Diego
“Our goal is to higher understand the disease so we will develop effective treatments and prevention strategies for the community,” added Kyung (Kay) Rhee, MD, professor and chief of the Division of Child and Community Health at UC San Diego School of Medicine and the Department of Pediatrics at Rady Kid’s.
Greater than 30 research teams across the country can be supported by over $448 million in funding from the NIH. The teams will study and share data in real time, providing the dimensions mandatory to develop information and answers as quickly as possible.
The first pediatric cohort study at UC San Diego/Rady is known as PEDS-PASS (Pediatric Epidemiology and Disparities Study of Post-Acute SARS-CoV-2).
As a part of RECOVER, PEDS-PASS will evaluate how often long-COVID occurs inside the community following acute infection and follow the natural history of and risk aspects for PASC over several years in newborns, children and young adults. Patients with or without SARS-CoV-2 infection can be enrolled into this study, and patients with various stages of long-COVID will take part in long-term follow-up to higher understand the disease process.
The national study may enroll as much as 20,000 participants, with or with no history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, plus as much as 20,000 caregivers. The study will include 800 children with MIS-C and 200 children and young adults with history of post-COVID vaccine-associated myocarditis or inflammation of the guts muscle.
The RECOVER consortium represents and supports greater than 100 researchers leading studies on long-COVID at greater than 200 sites across the country, including UC San Diego. NYU Langone Health serves because the clinical science core and study administrator.
Source:
University of California – San Diego