Intensive surveillance of acute respiratory infections in primary care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Intensive surveillance of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in primary care with a focus on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV): prospective sentinel network observational study
IRAS ID
329790
Contact name
Simon de Lusignan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Moderna
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 10 months, 30 days
Research summary
Whilst most respiratory infections, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), are commonly managed in primary care by general practitioners (GP), some result in serious infections. Creating a prospective linked dataset of virologically confirmed RSV cases can help to transform our understanding of RSV epidemiology including the seasonal patterns and dominant strains in circulation. It will also be vital to further our understanding of the take up of new therapies and coverage by new vaccines especially in individuals at risk for severe RSV disease.
The primary aim of this study is to provide more contemporary data about the clinical presentation and disease burden of virologically proven RSV. There will be three analysis, as below:
The principal analysis is the Intensive Surveillance study using point of care testing (POCT) testing to extend the number of RSV samples. We will identify individuals with respiratory infection who come to see their GP, including taking nasal swabs of those with acute respiratory infection (ARI) and performing rapid tests at the practice known as “point-of-care-tests (POCT)". Patients aged 40 and more with ARI will be assessed by a GP or nurse for suitability to take part. Informed consent will be obtained from volunteer patients for participation in this study. Consented patients will have nasal swabs tested for respiratory viruses using a POCT machine in the practice. This will produce a result in under 60 minutes and will be made available to the patient’s GP.
The second study will extend our understanding of the epidemiology of RSV by leveraging the data collected for UKHSA reference virology laboratory (previously approved project).
The third study will describe the severe outcomes of RSV recorded in primary care by using the Oxford-Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) sentinel network.
REC name
South Central - Oxford A Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/SC/0320
Date of REC Opinion
15 Sep 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion