The E-Speranza Primary Care project receives funding from the Carlos III Health Institute
The E-Speranza project aims to characterize persistent covid-19 and check the effectiveness of a drug to relieve the symptoms of people with the disease. The study is promoted by the Sud Metropolitan Research Support Unit of the IDIAPJGol together with the Drug Studies Unit.
Dr. Francisco Mera Cordero, family doctor, as principal investigator and researchers from the Jordi Gol i Gurina University Institute for Primary Care Research (IDIAPJGol) and the South Metropolitan Primary Care Directorate, have launched a study on covid -19 persistent that is currently in the patient recruitment phase and has received funding from the Carlos III Health Institute.
Persistent Covid-19 is the nomenclature that has been used to call cases of patients with symptoms lasting more than 4 weeks from the start of the disease. The probability of developing persistent covid-19 is not related to the severity of the disease, but is estimated to be up to 10% of patients. Symptoms can be present for more than six months and there is currently no treatment. Dyspnea, or respiratory distress, is one of the most frequent and disabling manifestations of persistent covid-19.
Clinical trial to check the efficacy of a drug
The hypothesis on which the project is based arose from the clinical experience of a family doctor, Francisco Mera Cordero, who detected the persistence of the symptoms of the acute phase already in the first wave, and who has led the project. The project consists of two parts. The first is the randomized double-blind clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of the Montelukast drug in mild and moderate symptoms in patients with persistent covid-19.
The study is currently in the recruitment phase of people with the disease with more than 4 weeks of evolution and mild or moderate respiratory distress. Montelukast is a drug that is already marketed for asthma. This clinical trial wants to check if the drug is beneficial in reducing the inflammation caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. The objective is to demonstrate that, compared to placebo, this treatment is effective in improving the quality of life associated with respiratory symptoms in patients with persistent covid-19.
Positive results in this line would be a great advance, since it is an already existing drug, with a proven and economically affordable safety profile.
The second part of the study will be carried out in collaboration with the Pneumology, Microbiology and Immunology Services of the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Pneumology Service of the Viladecans Hospital, and aims to learn more about the clinical and biological characteristics of people with covid -19 persistent.
To do so, blood and stool samples from a subgroup of people participating in the clinical trial will be analyzed to determine the effect of the disease on the immune system, intestinal flora, and how it relates to the severity of persistent covid-19.
Greater knowledge of the disease will help health professionals characterize the symptoms of people with persistent covid-19.
