DISCOVER study [COVID-19]
Research type
Research Study
Full title
DIagnostic and Severity markers of COVID-19 to Enable Rapid triage (DISCOVER) study
IRAS ID
282116
Contact name
David Arnold
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
North Bristol NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 4 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
COVID-19 is a lung disease caused by a virus called SARS-CoV-2, commonly referred to as the coronavirus. The coronavirus has different effects on different people. Many people who get the infection get mild or no symptoms at all and do not require hospital care. Of those who do come to hospital, some will be able to go home but some will need to be admitted for medical treatment\nincluding oxygen therapy or mechanical ventilation (where a machine is required to help with breathing).\n\nDoctors and nurses are required to make decisions on how best to treat patients early. However, given COVID-19 is a new infection many of our usual tests have not been fully researched for patients with this virus. Also, there are several new tests that might be useful to healthcare professionals in diagnosing and managing this condition, but they also have not been fully tested.\n\nThe DISCOVER study aims to collect blood samples and medical information from patients with suspected coronavirus. These blood samples will be analysed for both routine and new tests. We will then follow people up at 1 month to see how coronavirus affected them and see how useful the blood tests were at predicting this. We hope to rapidly publish this work and share our results with other UK and international centres to allow wider use of successful prognostic biomarkers.\n\nBlood will also be stored (anonymously) for future research on how COVID-19 makes people ill. In the future, this information could help doctors decide which tests are useful in managing coronavirus and which are not.Summary of Results
The DISCOVER study has generated a large amount of research that has had both national and international impact.Of those who participated in the DISCOVER study, researchers have found that three quarters of the group who received care for COVID-19 were still suffering ongoing symptoms three months later.
• 81 out of 110 discharged patients were still experiencing symptoms such as breathlessness, excessive fatigue and muscle aches when invited back to clinic.
• Many were also suffering from poor quality of life compared to the rest of the population, struggling to carry out daily tasks such as washing, dressing or going back to work.
Most of the patients did, however, report improvements in their initial symptoms of fever, cough and loss of sense of smell. Reassuringly, the majority of patients had no evidence of lung scarring or reductions in lung function.
Speaking of the findings, Helen Lewis-White (Deputy Director Research & Innovation) said:
“There’s still so much we don’t know about the long term effects of coronavirus, but this study has given us vital new insight into what challenges patients may face in their recovery and will help us prepare for those needs.
We’re pleased that researchers at Southmead Hospital are leading the way, and hope our findings can help patients and their GPs understand the course of post-COVID illness and the role of routine tests."The DISCOVER study followed a cohort of patients who were admitted with COVID-19 in 2020, many of whom remain highly symptomatic. It then compared those who received a vaccine to those who didn’t.
• 94% of participants had no worsening of symptoms after receiving the vaccine compared to 86% of unvaccinated sufferers from the same study.
• 23% of the patients with Long COVID actually saw an improvement in symptoms after receiving a vaccine, compared with 15% of the same Long COVID patient group who were unvaccinated.
The study follows uncertainty and concern amongst Long COVID sufferers on the impact the vaccine may have on their symptoms, with anecdotal reports suggesting both worsening and improvement of symptoms.
The study has found that for patients suffering with Long COVID, receiving a COVID-19 vaccine did not worsen their symptoms, which will be of great reassurance to many.
Speaking of these findings, Dr Fergus Hamilton from North Bristol NHS Trust said:
“This is really positive news for those with Long COVID. This study confirms that the COVID-19 vaccines do not worsen symptoms with a hint that they could actually improve them for some people. We hope this provides reassurance for anyone with Long COVID who may have been hesitant to get the vaccine, and we would encourage everyone to get the jab when invited.”REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/YH/0121
Date of REC Opinion
27 Mar 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion