COVID in the Community (Enrolling by Invitation Only)

Overview

About this study

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease was first identified in 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has since spread globally resulting in over 1 million confirmed cases in the US and 81,000 deaths to date. While the majority of cases result in mild symptoms, some progress to pneumonia and multi-organ failure, challenging our hospital capacity and available medical staff. Current estimates of confirmed COVID-19 cases miss those who have recovered from infection prior to widespread testing, those with mild or no symptoms, and those with symptoms who have not been tested due to limited availability of testing.  Thus, the true prevalence of COVID-19 infections in the US, Minnesota, and our surrounding community is unknown.  Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in the blood indicate that someone has been infected with the virus and developed an immune response.  Whether or not these individuals are protected from re-infection and how long this protection (if it exists) lasts are still unknown.

Further, a number of persons are at higher risk of infection compared to the general population due to greater exposure to COVID-19.  In particular, first responders, persons working in long term care facilities that have had outbreaks of COVID-19, and day care providers.  Understanding rates of asymptomatic infections, rates of seroconversion, and risk of re-infection in these groups will be critical to understanding protective immunity.  In addition, this information will help inform public health measures to better isolate and prevent spread of COVID-19 in these settings in the future.

To address these questions, we propose two surveillance studies of SARS-CoV-2 in the general population and high risk settings to estimate the extent of SARS-CoV-2 infections in our surrounding community.  We propose to use CLIA approved tests to identify serum antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 to identify past infection.

Participation eligibility

Participant eligibility includes age, gender, type and stage of disease, and previous treatments or health concerns. Guidelines differ from study to study, and identify who can or cannot participate. There is no guarantee that every individual who qualifies and wants to participate in a trial will be enrolled. Contact the study team to discuss study eligibility and potential participation.

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Member of identified high risk population; i.e., employees of long-term care facilities, first responders, health care workers, and day care providers.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Known clinically-diagnosed COVID-19 infection.

 

Participating Mayo Clinic locations

Study statuses change often. Please contact the study team for the most up-to-date information regarding possible participation.

Mayo Clinic Location Status Contact

Rochester, Minn.

Mayo Clinic principal investigator

Celine Vachon, Ph.D.

Closed for enrollment

Contact information:

Aaron Norman M.P.H.

(507) 538-3295

Norman.Aaron@mayo.edu

More information

Publications

Publications are currently not available