COVIMID [COVID-19]
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Prevalence and seroconversion of COVID-19 in Autoimmune diseases in Europe (the Euro-COVIMID study)
IRAS ID
286098
Contact name
Pedro Machado
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 17 days
Research summary
People living with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID) raise specific concerns due to their potentially increased risk of infections, related both to the disease itself and its treatment. Accordingly, patients aware of their high-risk condition could react differently from the general population, when considering their fears and beliefs facing the pandemic.\n\nFew small retrospective studies have been published about COVID-19 among IMID patients. However, data concerning prevalence and clinical course of COVID-19 among IMID patients are lacking. By the time when the pandemic peak is about to be reached in some European countries, while only starting in others, it would be very helpful to know the prevalence and prognosis of IMID patients infected with COVID-19.\nTo date, no treatment is robustly validated for COVID-19. These groups of patients are generally on specific treatments depending on the severity of their condition. There is a substantial risk of untimely treatment discontinuation by patients themselves as many of them question their physicians on immunomodulating agents (substance that stimulates or suppresses the immune system) risks in the outbreak context, asking to reduce or even stop them. This interruption could then lead to a disease flare. IMID’s flare in this setting also needs to be assessed, since it can range from small impact on daily activities to more severe or life-threatening consequences, depending on the underlying disease.\n\nWe thus aim to investigate prevalence and seroconversion of COVID-19 in IMID. To assess the patient’s psychological, clinical and therapeutic impact among distinct IMID through different European countries will provide a unique and useful information that can be used to build robust public health policies. Some of the diseases we will be considering in this study: Sjögren’s syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis and giant cell arteritis.\n
REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/LO/0953
Date of REC Opinion
13 Jul 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion