European Cohorts of Patients and Schools to Advance Response to Epidemics

The EuCARE project gathers a comprehensive multidisciplinary team of clinicians, virologists, epidemiologists, statisticians and top experts in artificial intelligence to unveil the impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants on key sectors of public health, as addressed by the call. The specific activities include: 1. The assessment of natural and artificial immunity to the different viral variants in health care workers with the aim of defining the cross-immunization patterns and the risk of vaccine escape, informing vaccination strategies for the general population; 2. The analysis of the clinical course and long-term follow-up of hospitalized COVID-19 patients to derive the role of different viral variants in the outcome of the infection, including post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection; 3. The definition of the best strategies to control the spread of different viral variants in schools, by comparing the outcome of diverse containment and prevention measures in relation to the prevalence and dynamics of the variants. To ensure a suitable representativeness of the different variants, vaccines and preventive measures, EuCARE has secured the appropriate cohorts from diverse geographic areas including European countries, Kenya, Mexico, Russia and Vietnam, and will consolidate or expand interactions with other cohorts. To deal with complex interactions among many variables, including large dimensional parameters, EuCARE harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to define the role of viral variants and inform clinical guidelines and prevention measures. In the longer-term, EuCARE is committed to maintain active cooperation beyond the duration of the project with a dedicated task in the project. The solid IT and ethics infrastructure and the harmonised research procedures will make the cohort and laboratory network rapidly available to tackle newly emerging infectious diseases, thus contributing to pandemic preparedness on a global scale.