COVID-19 Clinical Trials and Expanded Access

The COVID-19 pandemic has already overwhelmed the sanitary capacity. Additional therapeutic arsenals, albeit untested in the given context but previously proven to be efficacious in a related clinical context, that could reduce the morbidity rate are urgently needed. A decrease of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is a validated bad prognosis marker in sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome. In contrast, auricular vagus nerve stimulation was proven not only to increase HRV values in healthy Humans, but also to reduce sepsis and increase survival, both significantly, in experimental models. Moreover, the heavy viral infection within the brainstem of deceased patients suggests that the neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV2 is likely to be partially responsible for COVID-19 acute respiratory failure and may bear relevance in tailoring future treatment modalities. Interestingly, the vagus nerve (or tenth cranial nerve) connects bidirectionally the brainstem to various internal organs including the lung and to one external organ, namely, the outer ear. Hence, the impact of auricular vagus nerve stimulation through semi-permanent needles will be studied, mostly used so far for pain alleviation, on the outcome of COVID-19 inpatients within 15 days.

Blood samples from participants who have recovered from COVID-19 infection will be obtained and studied. The goal of the research is to identify antibodies that have been generated by the patient to fight the COVID-19 infection. By identifying the most effective antibodies, scientists can make specific antibodies to use to prevent future coronavirus outbreaks or to treat patients with severe disease.

The overall objective of the study is to determine the therapeutic effect and tolerance of Sarilumab in combination with Azithromycin and Hydroxychloroquine, compared to Sarilumab only, patients with moderate, severe pneumonia associated with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Sarilumab is a human IgG1 monoclonal antibody that binds specifically to both soluble and membrane-bound IL-6Rs (sIL-6Rα and mIL-6Rα) and has been shown to inhibit IL-6-mediated signaling through these receptors. The study has a cohort multiple Randomized Controlled Trials (cmRCT) design. Randomization will occur prior to offering investigational treatments administration to patients enrolled in the CORIMUNO-19 cohort (NCT04324047). Sarilumab+Azithromycin+Hydroxychloroquine, or Sarilumab only will be administered to consenting adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19 either diagnosed with moderate or severe pneumonia requiring no mechanical ventilation. All patients will receive standard of care along with randomized investigational treatments. Outcomes of included patients will be compared between groups as well as with outcomes of patients in the CORIMUNO-19 cohort treated with other immune modulators or standard of care.

There is no predictive tool for patients admitted to the emergency department with a suspicion of Covid-19 that will worsen secondarily and require a heavy lifting. In a context of saturation of the healthcare system by the pandemic at Covid-19,it is essential to identify specific, accessible prognostic markers via minimally invasive sampling with low risk of infection for personnel caregiver, for optimal allocation of resuscitation resources. This study proposes to evaluate the biological markers of routine care known to be associated with resuscitation admission in relation to hospitalization on conventional service for the prediction of worsening of patients admitted to the emergencies for Covid-19.

A novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, is responsible for a rapidly spreading pandemic that has reached 160 countries, infecting over 500,000 individuals and killing more than 24,000 people. SARS-CoV-2 causes an acute and potentially lethal respiratory illness, known as COVID-19, that is threatening to overwhelm health care systems due to a dramatic surge in hospitalized and critically ill patients. Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 typically have been symptomatic for 5-7 days prior to admission, indicating that there is a window during which an effective intervention could significantly alter the course of illness, lessen disease spread, and alleviate the stress on hospital resources. There is no known treatment for COVID-19, though in vitro and one poorly controlled study have identified a potential antiviral activity for HCQ. The rationale for this clinical trial is to measure the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine for reducing viral load and shedding in adult outpatients with confirmed COVID-19.

The purpose of this study is two-fold. First we would like to confirm that non-contact ECG provides equivalency to current contact methods of obtaining ECG data. Second we would like to investigate whether non-contact ECG can detect ECG changes prior to the onset symptoms from COVID19.

Covid-SER is a prospective multi-center study for the evaluation of diagnostic performance of available serological tests

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The infection is highly contagious requiring restrictive and stressful measures for patients, family members and ICU healthcare providers. To avoid contagion, patient isolation has become the rule. For patients, these measures add stress to the ICU environment and deprive them of unrestricted family visits. Family members are not only left with fear but also many unanswered questions. In end-of-life situations, many family members are unable to say good-bye and unable to provide support to their loved-one throughout the process. The impact of exclusion or limited inclusion certainly needs to be explored. Moreover, ICU caregivers are having to face new challenges and to work in a unknown situation, juggling with both professional issues such as increased workload, working longer hours and safety issues, and personal issues such as child care and transport as well as family transmission of the virus. The main objective of this study is to demonstrate that the COVID-19 pandemic, as compared to seasonal flu and community acquired pneumonia, significantly increases post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in family members of critically ill patients. PTSD-related symptoms will be assessed in family members using the IES-R (impact of event scale revised) during a telephone interview 90 days after ICU discharge. The IES-R is a 22-item self-report measure that assesses subjective distress caused by traumatic events. It will be compared across the three groups (COVID-19, FLU and CAP).

The current outbreak of COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 is a global health emergency with a case fatality rate so far approximately 4% and a growing number of confirmed cases (>9500) in Germany. There is no data available on the efficacy of antiviral agents for the treatment of COVID-19. In vitro data show that hydroxychloroquine can inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication and anecdotal reports from COVID-19 patients in China and France suggest that chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine is a good candidate for treatment. In the French study a favourable effect was seen when hydroxychloroquine was used together with azithromycin in a small series of COVID-19 patients. However, so far all published evidence is based on non-controlled use of hydroxychloroquine. We propose to conduct a placebo-controlled trial in COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate disease in Germany to assess virological efficacy, tolerability and safety of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19. The objective of this trial is to identify an effect of hydroxychloroquine on viral clearance in vivo. This data will inform practice for the design of larger trials on clinical efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment and post-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19.

Clinical thoracic ultrasound plays an important role in the exploration, diagnosis and follow-up of thoracic pathologies. The COVID (Coronavirus Disease) epidemic is leading to a large influx of patients in the emergency department with respiratory disorders. The rapid diagnosis of respiratory disorders in infected patients is important for further management. Chest ultrasound has already demonstrated its value in the diagnosis of pneumonia in the emergency department with superiority over chest X-ray. However, there is little data on the thoracic ultrasound semiology of viral pneumonia in general and of COVID in particular.