SARS-coV2 variants Evaluation in pRegnancy and paeDIatrics cohorts

Project Information

VERDI

Grant agreement ID: 101045989

DOI

10.3030/101045989

Project closed

EC signature date 11 November 2021

Start date 1 November 2021

End date 31 October 2025

Funded under

• Health

Total cost

€ 15 395 599,42

EU contribution

€ 15 395 599,42

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PADOVA
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - VERDI (SARS-coV2 variants Evaluation in pRegnancy and paeDIatrics cohorts)

Reporting period: 2023-05-01 to 2024-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Since the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 in 2019, new ‘variants of concern’, such as delta and omicron, have continued to appear. The impact of these variants on the health of pregnant women and children is not fully understood, and it is important to monitor this impact as the virus continues to evolve. Moreover, the mpox outbreak in Europe in 2022 highlighted the unpredictability of some infections and how crucial it is to monitor the effects of outbreaks and prepare mitigation measures, both in current high-risk groups and other groups which may become more at risk in future.
The experience of both COVID-19 and mpox has highlighted the need for a rapid and coordinated research response to infections outbreaks, so that studies can be launched rapidly to identify population groups most at risk, as well as effective treatments and prevention strategies, without unnecessary duplication of effort.
The overall objective of VERDI is therefore to create a global network of cohort studies which can work together to provide evidence-based recommendations on the control and management of SARS-CoV-2 in pregnant women and children, and of mpox in high risk groups as well as in pregnancy and childhood. The consortium’s work will contribute to European and global preparedness in case of future public health threats from new or re-emerging infections.
The evidence and insight arising from the multidisciplinary research will help to rapidly deliver recommendations on the best strategies to control viral spread and optimise clinical management and treatment of COVID-19 and mpox infection.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project builds on existing and new cohorts and partners across 30 centres of excellence in Europe (Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, UK) and globally (the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Haiti, Israel, Nigeria, South Africa, Thailand, USA) and focuses on pregnant women and children, as well as adults attending sexual health clinics. The inclusion of Estonia (University of Tartu) and the DRC (University of Kinshasa) is new for this reporting period and increases the diversity and geographical representation of cohorts included in the project. Cohorts vary from large-scale country level administrative health datasets to infection-specific cohorts at the regional level. Partners come together to answer a range of key research questions on the impact of SARS-CoV-2 and mpox, providing evidence to guide public health decision-making.

Key areas of focus in VERDI for SARS-CoV-2 are the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in pregnancy and paediatrics, transmission patterns in schools and households, and the impact of vaccination strategies. In terms of pregnancy, during the second 18 months of the project, analyses have been completed or are ongoing of the impact of maternal infection during pregnancy on pregnancy, birth and child outcomes, as well as the uptake, safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy. For paediatrics, results on the uptake, effectiveness and safety of vaccination have been published, as well as on the immune response to infection and vaccination, and outcomes of infection. Analyses of data from household transmission studies of SARS-CoV-2, with a focus on the role of children, are ongoing.

For mpox, work involves describing the clinical presentation and outcomes of infection in adults and children and understanding people’s experiences of the mpox outbreak and associated social media and public health messaging. This work has a global perspective, with cases reported from across Europe and elsewhere (including the DRC, where transmission is ongoing) and social science work being carried out in Nigeria, the UK, Italy and Thailand.

VERDI partners also carry out modelling analyses of both SARS-CoV-2 and mpox, to evaluate the impact of interventions such as vaccination and behaviour change.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Within the first 3 years of the project, VERDI published 46 papers in peer reviewed journals (19 in the second 18 month period), and additionally several papers were posted on preprint servers and presented at conferences. Links are available via the VERDI website (https://verdiproject.org/). These provide evidence on a range of issues related to the epidemiology and control of SARS-CoV-2 and mpox, with implications for the design of public health strategies such as vaccination recommendations.

VERDI has enhanced a novel infrastructure for infectious disease surveillance, most notably extending an existing multi-country surveillance system for influenza (“Influenzanet”) to Estonia. This will enhance influenza surveillance in Estonia, and will also enable rapid pivoting to new infections as needed in the future.

VERDI has regular interaction with other EU-funded COVID-19 consortia and has helped to ensure that the health of pregnant women and children is prioritised in response to the pandemic. The additional focus on mpox has contributed to a broadening of activities to preparedness for future (re)emerging infections.

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