A team of researchers funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has commissioned a clinical trial of NHS health workers to better understand the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) and find out why some people are getting more affected by the virus than others.

This study, which could pave the way for new treatments, is the first to collect samples from frontline health workers (doctors, nurses, allied health workers, administrators, and others) who have not shown symptoms of the virus.. It started before the UK peaked at Covid-19.

The study collected blood, saliva and nasal swabs from healthcare workers at three London hospitals to answer key questions about the virus.. By taking a series of samples from frontline healthcare workers most likely to have been exposed to the pandemic early, the study will help understand who is most at risk.. The team hopes this information will allow them to create individual "

They also want to know if people who are exposed to the virus develop immunity and if there are exposure hotspots in the hospital.. This research will also help improve how we test for the virus and create a library of samples that could be used to develop drugs or vaccines..

So far, a team of six BHF-funded researchers has taken samples from 500 healthcare workers at the Barts Heart Center in London.. BHF's rapid rush to provide its researchers with help fighting the Covid-19 pandemic while still receiving funding meant this team could draw on its research expertise and infrastructure and act quickly to move Covid-19 research forward.. Sampling started on the first day of lockdown and 400 participants were recruited in the first week. The team is now in its second month of observation..

Researchers are currently planning to recruit 1,000 healthcare workers at Barts Health NHS Trust, University College London, Queen Mary University of London, the new NHS Nightingale Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital.

Samples taken weekly for 16 weeks as part of a new study of healthcare workers. This will create a library of approximately 500,000 samples covering the time before, during and after a person is exposed to Covid-19. These samples will be studied at leading UK research institutes as part of a collaborative effort to get first answers before a 'second wave' of the virus..

The study will also help answer questions about whether BAME healthcare workers are at higher risk of contracting Covid-19 compared to healthcare workers in the Caucasus.. The study is now expanding to Cape Town and Sydney to enable researchers in the southern hemisphere to answer other questions about Covid-19..

Dr. Thomas Treibel, BHF Intermediate Fellow at Bart Health and University College Hospital London, said:.

“Covid-19 is destroying families and seriously disrupting our lifestyles around the world.. There's a lot we don't know about how the virus works, which is why we acted quickly to set up this clinical trial in response to the pandemic..

Looking at samples from 1,000 frontline workers who are exposed to the virus, it will be critical to understand why some people end up in the hospital with Covid-19 while others develop mild symptoms.. By collaborating with the best minds and science labs in the UK and beyond, we can get quick answers on how the virus works, including the role genetics play and the immune response to Covid-19.. Answering these questions will enable us to develop much-needed treatments before the second wave occurs.”.

The team started with no funding other than a BHF funded salary and called for public donations. So far they have raised over ?430,000 for a clinical trial of healthcare workers.

Dr Sonia Babu-Narayan, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said:.

“Research like this is very important if we are to understand and ultimately manage and treat this virus effectively.”.

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“This clinical study demonstrates the inspiring work of our BHF researchers, who we know are working tirelessly to make progress in our understanding of the virus.. Their findings can help protect all of us, including those with cardiovascular disease, who may be particularly vulnerable to complications from the virus, and ultimately help save lives in the UK and around the world."

medical-heal. en.