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110 active trials for Infection

Efficacy of BCG Vaccination in the Prevention of COVID19 Via the Strengthening of Innate Immunity in Health Care Workers

Healthcare Workers (HCW) are at high risk for COVID-19. In addition to the risk of serious forms among HCW, significant absenteeism due to illness would have dramatic consequences in our ability to fight COVID-19. No coronavirus vaccine is available today and drug treatments are only at the start of clinical evaluation. Available since 1921, the bacillus Calmette and Guérin (BCG) is the most widely used vaccine in the world (> 3 billion doses administered) with an extremely low rate of adverse effects. BCG is indicated for the prevention of tuberculosis (TB), but more recent studies have shown that it also has nonspecific immune properties which may be interesting in the current COVID-19 epidemic. Data in mice and in humans have demonstrated protection conferred by BCG against viral respiratory infections such as influenza. In countries with high endemic TB, BCG decreases the incidence of acute respiratory infections by up to 80%, neonatal BCG vaccination has been shown to greatly reduce the risk of sepsis and of hospitalization of children for reasons other than TB. A recent study conducted in South Africa showed that re-vaccination with BCG in adults reduced the incidence of respiratory infections by 70% compared to unvaccinated controls. Beyond respiratory infections, BCG has also shown protective effects against inflammatory diseases. These non-specific beneficial effects are likely linked to the induction of "trained innate immunity", implying epigenetic and metabolic re-programming of innate immune cells. It is therefore possible that revaccination with BCG could significantly reduce the incidence and severity of COVID-19. Very recent ecological observations indeed suggest an inverse correlation between BCG vaccination coverage and the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19. In this context several trials began in Europe and Australia to evaluate the efficacy of BCG vaccination in populations at risk of exposure (HCW) or severe disease (elderly). This study is aligned with studies carried out in Australia, The Netherlands and Spain. In contrast to these latter studies, virtually all French study participants have been vaccinated in their childhood, since BCG vaccination was mandatory in France in neonates until 2007, and in HCW until recently. Therefore, the French study will be in a unique situation to evaluate the effect of re-vaccination with BCG in the context of BCG priming decades before revaccination.

Start: May 2020
Clinical Application of High-throughput Sequencing Technology for the Diagnosis of Patients With Severe Infection

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical value of high throughput sequencing of infectious pathogens for patients with severe infection, and to establish foundation for high throughput sequencing to be the clinical routine infection pathogen examination. This study is a diagnostic study, and the sample size is 320 cases. 320 participants from the department of hematology and intensive care unit who meet the inclusion criteria are randomly divided into the control group and the experimental group with 160 cases in each group. Both the participants of the control group and the experimental group undergo routine clinical diagnosis methods and treatment. In addition, the participants of the experimental group are collected the samples including whole blood, cerebrospinal fluid or alveolar lavage fluid required for high throughput sequencing of infectious pathogens during sample collection for routine pathogenic examination of infection. The pathogen diagnosis rate and the diagnostic accuracy rate between the conventional infectious pathogen tests and the high throughput sequencing of infectious pathogens will be compared in the experimental group. By gathering statistics of consultation hours and cost efficiency, the effect of high throughput sequencing of infectious pathogens on the diagnosis and treatment efficiency of the experimental group and the control group will be compared, and through these indicators, clinical application value for the diagnosis of severe infection patients by high throughput sequencing of infectious pathogens can be evaluated.

Start: September 2020