UCLH contributing to UK-wide study working on response to outbreaks of infectious diseases

ISARIC is working to provide a coordinated and agile research response to outbreaks of infectious diseases.

This study focuses on severe COVID-19 that requires hospital treatment. Patients with COVID-19 who agree to take part provide medical information and samples, such as blood samples, mouth, nose or throat swabs and urine and stool samples as well as  genetic information (DNA).

Researchers are using the patient information and their samples to understand the best way to diagnose the disease, how long people remain infectious and the mechanisms by which the immune response may defend against infection or contribute to more severe illness in order to identify effective strategies to prevent infection or to treat the disease.

Professor Mahdad Noursadeghi, who is leading on the study at UCLH, said: “COVID-19 is an entirely new disease. Our contribution to ISARIC will help build the global knowledge base for this disease, so that we can diagnose it, understand the transmission of infection and how this infection causes disease, so that we can develop effective strategies to prevent infection and to treat the ensuing disease.”