We are looking for volunteers affected by persistent covid for the E-SPERANZA project

The E-SPERANZA project, promoted by the Southern Metropolitan Research Support Unit together with the IDIAP Jordi Gol Drug Studies Unit, needs to recruit more participants who continue to have respiratory problems over 'one month after being infected with covid-19 and, as a requirement to participate in the study, they must have been infected during the last year. Finding these people is key to being able to achieve the project's goals.

 

The study began in September 2021 to investigate the causes of this coronavirus and find the medicine that can alleviate its effects. It is estimated that up to 10% of patients are persistent. Symptoms can be present for more than six months, and there is currently no treatment. Dyspnea, or breathing difficulty, is one of the most frequent and disabling manifestations of persistent COVID-19.

So, E-SPERANZA consists of two parts. The first is the randomized double-blind clinical trial, a method in which neither the doctor nor the patient knows whether they are taking the drug or the placebo. In this way, the effectiveness of the Montelukast drug in the mild symptoms of patients with persistent COVID-19 is evaluated. The study is in the recruitment phase of people with the disease with more than 4 weeks of evolution and mild or moderate respiratory difficulty.

Montelukast is a medication that is already marketed for asthma. This clinical trial wants to check if the drug is beneficial in reducing the inflammation produced by SARS-CoV-2 infection. The aim 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.

The second part of the study aims to learn more deeply about the clinical and biological characteristics of people with persistent COVID-19. To do this, blood and stool samples from a subgroup of people participating in the clinical trial will be analyzed and thus the effect of the disease on the immune system, the intestinal flora and how it relates to the severity of persistent COVID-19. This part is carried out in collaboration with the Pneumology, Microbiology and Immunology Services of the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Pneumology Service of the Viladecans Hospital.

Interested persons can contact the Southern Metropolitan Research Support Unit until June 15 at 938 575 545.

 

The Real World Lab renews its license as ULab of EIT Health

The Real World Lab is one of the 20 Living Labs that is part of the ULab, these user validation laboratories that are part of the program initiated by the European Institute of Technology (EIT Health). This laboratory created by IDIAP Jordi Gol has renewed its license after being one of the 28 ULabs last year.

We spoke with Anna Berenguera: "It is important to promote collaboration between research groups"

Anna Berenguera has been working at IDIAP Jordi Gol for fifteen years. Over the years, she has worked on several projects and is currently the Deputy Director in the research area. But before all this, he obtained a degree in psychology, a master's degree in research methods in social sciences from the University of Surrey and a doctorate in Public Health from the University of Barcelona. Ah! and she is a wife and mother of an eighteen-year-old son.

First successful meeting with the External Scientific Committee

Last April 19 and 20 we celebrated the first External Scientific Committee with the participation of up to eight professionals from all over Spain and Europe who contributed their views on various aspects that affect IDIAP, such as the challenges of strategic plan.

The Odyssey app speeds up the management of any Heart Attack Code

A new tool improves coordination, information flow and treatment time for patients who have suffered an acute heart attack and are urgently transferred to a tertiary hospital. This is the Odyssey app, a tool that streamlines procedures from the moment the patient gives the alarm signal. Before a Heart Attack Code, time is life!

The Act of Delivery of the ICS-IDIAP Grants of May 18 will have international projection

There is little more than a month left until we meet at the ICS-IDIAPJGol Aid Delivery Act. On May 18, we will celebrate the delivery of these grants intended to promote research in Primary Care.