COVID-19 cooperation group

Our objective

This repository obtains, classifies and presents the available knowledge in relation to COVID-19. The documents are classified in different areas of medical specialty, to respond to the need for updated information on priority topics during the pandemic. This project is a collaborative initiative of professionals from various areas of knowledge without conflicts of interest.

Potential users

Taking into account the compiled documents and the process carried out for their classification, translation, and interlinking, the potential users of this repository are:

1. Health professionals
2. Decision-makers
3. Biomedical researchers
4. Computational linguists
5. Translators

Background information

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infection caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The SARS-CoV-2 virus belongs to the same family of coronaviruses that cause Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV)¹. COVID-19 was declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020 by the World Health Organization

Due to the high production of documents related to this disease, and seeing the need to classify this information according to clinical criteria for professionals, we created this free access document repository. The sources of information were medical databases, government and institutional websites.

This repository is the product of a collaboration initiated by the contact of Alejandra López (PhD. student from the Pompeu Fabra University) with Dr. Mónica Ballesteros and Dr. Johannes Graen with the research group of Dr. Julio Collado and Dr. Carlos Francisco Méndez of the Center for Genomic Sciences, UNAM in Mexico, as well as Dr. Oscar Lithgow and later with Dr. Fabio Rinaldi computational linguist from the Swiss AI lab IDSIA.

Methodology

1. Literature search

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2. Eligibility criteria for documents

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3. Classification

The articles and documents were classified taking into account the PRECEPT scheme. The documents are classified into: clinical specialties, types, topics and subtopics.

Document categories in the clinical repository

Clinical specialties

This category presents the documents classified under 28 clinical specialties

Types

• Intervention studies:

An intervention study is one in which some type of intervention is carried out on the participants (for example, the administration of a drug), in order to evaluate it. This category includes randomized controlled clinical trials, non-randomized controlled studies.

• Observational studies

Observational studies correspond to research designs which their objective is "the observation and recording" of events without intervening in their natural course. Measurements can be made over time (longitudinal study), either prospectively or retrospectively; or uniquely (cross-sectional study).

• Narrative reviews:

The compilation of the bibliography on a given topic

• Systematic reviews:

A systematic review aims to gather all the empirical evidence that meets previously established eligibility criteria, in order to answer a specific research question. It uses systematic and explicit methods, which are chosen in order to minimize biases, thus providing more reliable results from which conclusions can be drawn and decisions can be taken (Antman 1992, Oxman 1993).

• Clinical Practice Guides:

The clinical practice guides provide recommendations on the benefits and disadvantages of different interventions available in healthcare.

• Others:

Documents that could not be classified in any of the previous categories.




Topics and subtopics

The topics category was created according to the classification of the "living evidence map on COVID-19"³:

• Diagnosis:

Documents related to the COVID-19 screening tests based on PCR and RT-PCR, serological tests, clinical diagnosis (by medical history, imaging, blood tests).

• Prognosis:

Documents that determine the prognosis of COVID-19 disease by clinical or laboratory criteria. As well as, studies that determine the case fatality rate, complications or disability.

• Epidemiology:

Documents related to the incidence and prevalence of COVID-19 disease.

• Etiology:

Documents or articles related to: the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 (the origin or history of SARS-CoV-2, analysis of the sequences, subtypes, serotypes of SARS-CoV-2, pathogenicity and virulence, reservoirs); modes of transmission (animal to person, person to person, aerosols, blood, feces, surfaces); pathophysiology (incubation period, SARS-CoV-2 immune response)

• Experiences, perceptions, conceptions:

Documents related to perceptions, reliability, barriers and facilitators, political aspects, economic aspects, ethical aspects, collateral consequences, social media, equity.

• Clinical overview:

Documents of cohorts that describe clinical characteristics.

• Interventions:

Documents of interventions that aim to manage the pandemic: strategies for behavior modification, case identification, follow-up contacts, communication strategies, disinfection of public spaces, warehouses and offices, information systems geographic, planning to increase ICU beds, triage, staff planning.

• Modeling:

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• Prevention and control:

Documents related to quarantine, restrictions on the movement of citizens, isolation, restrictions on schools, kindergartens, work from home, restrictions on business activities and events, travel restrictions, physical barriers (masks, gloves, others), hand washing, hand disinfection, vaccines.

• Health services:

Documents related to the investigation of health services.

As for the subtopics, there are 27 different categories such as isolation, clinical diagnosis, serological tests, vaccine, among others. By selecting one of these subtopics, the system will automatically show the documents that belongs to the subtopic as well as information about which is the main topic. Click here to access the repository