The ORCHESTRA project, “Connecting European Cohorts to Increase Common and Effective Response to SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic”, has officially concluded. This European research initiative brought together scientists from 37 different partner institutions from 14 countries under the coordination of the Infectious Diseases division at the University of Verona. It provided data to support efforts in the management and control of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over its four-year duration, ORCHESTRA achieved significant progress in understanding the long-term effects of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19. The project focused extensively on “Long COVID”, a term used to describe the prolonged health issues experienced by patients after recovering from the initial infection.
Penta played a crucial role in ORCHESTRA by ensuring the project’s scope included children and pregnant people. Through its network, Penta mobilised pregnancy and paediatric cohorts, ensuring these populations were represented and studied in relation to Long COVID, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of its diverse impact.
Among ORCHESTRA’s key achievements is a study involving over 7,000 patients with mild to severe cases of COVID-19 from 50 European centres. This allowed ORCHESTRA to map the link between virus variants and specific clinical conditions. The project also demonstrated the effectiveness of vaccines and monoclonal antibodies in reducing the risk of Long COVID by over 80%.
The collaboration led to the creation of the ORCHESTRA Data Portal, which brings together all the data, results and knowledge built from the contribution of all the centres involved in the project. This Data Portal represents a precious legacy for the international scientific community, contributing to the fight against future infectious diseases with pandemic potential.
Finally, during the closing General Assembly on 7-8 October 2024, the Penta team was honoured with the ORCHESTRA “Citation Impact Award” for the article “Long-term Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Children and Adults After Mild Infection“, published in JAMA Network Open. The award recognised the article as the most-cited publication produced by the ORCHESTRA Consortium.
With the ORCHESTRA project officially concluded, its findings and resources will continue to serve as a foundation for tackling the evolving challenges of COVID-19 and potentially other infectious diseases in the future. For more information about the European ORCHESTRA project, its findings and Data Portal, please visit the project website.