Antwerp, Belgium – 6 February 2020
On 30th January 2020, the Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak of 2019-nCoV a public health emergency of international concern. The Platform foR European Preparedness Against (Re-) emerging Epidemics (PREPARE) has now mobilized to mode 2 response activity, representing an important next level of preparedness for the actual conduct of clinical research in the event of further 2019-nCoV spread in Europe. At present, 366 hospitals and 73 paediatric sites from PREPARE partner networks, COMBACTE and Penta, have been mobilized to contribute to the important collective global efforts in standardizing the information gathered from affected patients. Together we have the potential of acting as sites to respond to an immediate emerging infectious disease threat. We have distributed an electronic case report form (eCRF), developed by ISARIC and WHO, so that the same information can be gathered from patients with suspected or confirmed 2019-nCoV. “This is the first time that there is a harmonized European collaboration for data collection of patient data during an outbreak. It is a crucial step to enable sharing and comparing information to inform public health responses,’ explains Prof Herman Goossens, coordinator of PREPARE. Read the full PREPARE press release here.