Norwegian SARS-CoV-2 study - Virological, clinical and immunological characterization of inpatients during the COVID-19 outbreak

Diseases caused by infections are the most frequent cause of death worldwide. New infectious agents, such as SARS-CoV-2, must undergo a lot of research to gain knowledge of the virus's biology and ability to induce disease (pathogenesis) in the host. In order to gain a good mechanistic understanding of the disease process, it is necessary to identify risk factors for serious disease and find which therapy is effective, as well as examine the virus's ability to multiply and its dynamics in addition to the host's response. By studying immune responses over time in the host and which factors affect this, it can provide knowledge about individuals' susceptibility. At Oslo University Hospital, we started the "Norwegian SARS-CoV-2 study", which is an observational study on the newly discovered SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 infection. The study was quickly approved by the Regional Ethics Committee in February 2020, and afterwards inclusion was underway with the first confirmed COVID-19 cases that required hospital treatment at the start of the pandemic. The study is expected to provide a lot of knowledge about the course of COVID-19 infection, as well as generate a lot of data about the virus and its mode of transmission.