Viral InfectionsNCT05336851
Emergency PWAS in Respiratory Infectious Disease
An observational study of Viral Infections and Bacterial Infections, run by The University of Hong Kong at 1 site in China.
Trial summary
Develop an emergency PanorOmics Wide Association Study (ePWAS) for the early, rapid biological and pathophysiological characterisation of known and novel Infectious Diseases in adult patients presenting to emergency departments with suspected, acute, community-acquired respiratory infectious disease (scaRID). Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 100 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Viral Infections, Bacterial Infections, Fungal Infections
- What is being tested?
- Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection
- How many people
- 2,000 participants
- Where
- 1 siteChina
- Study dates
- 11 Apr 2023to 1 May 2028
- How long will I take part?
- 1 Year
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 100 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Study population: Suspected, acute, community-acquired, respiratory, infectious disease presenting to emergency department with symptom onset <8 days and reported fever or chills or aural temperature >37.5°C
Who may be able to join
- Patients eligible for enrolment include:
- With reference to previous inclusion criteria are:
- Adults ≥18 years of age; AND
- Suspected, acute, community-acquired, respiratory, infectious disease (scaRID)*; AND
- Informed consent.
- Note: scaRID is defined according to ALL three criteria:
Show all 19Show fewer
- Community acquired (not hospitalised for <28 days); AND
- Acute infection (defined as symptom onset <8 days and any ONE of reported fever or chills or aural temperature >37.5°C or hypothermia or leucocytosis or leucopaenia or new altered mental status); AND
- Probable respiratory infection - According to any ONE of:
- new cough or new sputum production or
- chest pain or
- dyspnoea or
- tachypnoea or
- abnormal lung examination or
- respiratory failure; or
- physician's judgment (presenting with systemic or gastrointestinal symptoms).
- Control subjects will be drawn from two groups:
- The worried well - adult patients with a National Early Warning Score (NEWS) <3 and a temperature <37.5°C.
- Relatives or accompanying friends with no acute illness.
Who cannot join
- Refusal of consent;
- Recent hospitalisation (<28 days);
- Enrolled in another clinical trial
- Cellulitis;
- Skin or orthopaedic infections;
- Urinary tract infection;
Show all 16Show fewer
- Acute abdominal sepsis;
- Sexual transmitted disease;
- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection;
- Immunocompromised/potential neutropenic fever;
- Solid organ or haematopoietic stem-cell transplant within the previous 90 days;
- Active graft-versus-host disease or bronchiolitis obliterans;
- Severe traveller's disease requiring urgent hospitalisation and management including malaria, dengue, typhoid and other rickettsial diseases;
- Stroke;
- Toxidrome;
- Non-organic acute psychosis.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
China1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
Hong Kong University
Hong Kong
Timothy H Rainer, MD, 852 39176846, thrainer@hku.hk
About this study
Official title: Emergency PanorOmic Wide Association Study in Respiratory Infectious Disease (ePWAS-RID)
Develop an emergency PanorOmics Wide Association Study (ePWAS) for the early, rapid biological and pathophysiological characterisation of known and novel Infectious Diseases in adult patients presenting to emergency departments with suspected, acute, community-acquired respiratory infectious disease (scaRID).
Phase 1
- Develop an ED-ID biobank (named ePWAS-RID). Phase 2
- Targeted research for the discovery of novel diagnostics, prognostics and therapeutics
Read the detailed description
Introduction
Pandemic Preparedness
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected over 220 million people, claimed over 450 000 lives and invoked variable responses across the world. Delays in acquiring quality clinical and scientific material on the transmissibility, clinical nature, outcomes and lethality of novel and known infectious diseases (ID) translate into healthcare inefficiencies, societal and economic stress, and increased morbidity and mortality. Regions with greater success in the fight against COVID-19 were well prepared before the pandemic.
Pathogens
The pathogens most likely to cause annual epidemics and pandemics are respiratory viruses. In Asia, viral infections account for 30-40% of sepsis cases. Each year there are 100 million cases of viral community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) of which 60% progress to sepsis. These viruses cause host-mediated, inflammatory, immune responses which progresses through three phases: preliminary regulated inflammation; intermediate dysregulated proinflammation; and late dysregulated hypoinflammation.
Clinical Spectrum
RID is a heterogeneous population of patients. This complex spectrum of heterogeneity extends throughout the underlying molecular biology and pathophysiology from genome to phenome. It includes significant individual variation in regulated and dysregulated systemic inflammatory host responses to infection in the presence and absence of organ dysfunction. Critical illness from any ID involves both host susceptibility to the pathogen and host propensity to develop dysregulated inflammation and organ failure (e.g. pulmonary inflammation and/or acute kidney injury).
PanorOmics-Wide Association Studies
In the five years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Kingdom's Genetics Of Mortality In Critical Care (GenOMICC) study recruited patients with a spectrum of critical illness syndromes (e.g. influenza, sepsis, and emerging infections) to better understand host mechanisms that lead to life-threatening outcomes. As a result, the GenOMICC investigators, along with collaborators from Spain and Italy, were well placed to perform genomic-association studies on critically ill COVID-19 patients and to make recommendations for future studies.
An integrated panorOmics approach has the potential to uncover causal associations and linkages across the entire spectrum of host biology including genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and lipidomics, through to clinical phenotype. However, panorOmics as a discipline faces the same challenges as Genome-wide association studies (GWAS), only more so. Although GWAS correlate genomic loci with complex signatures and traits, efficient detection is hindered by false positives, linkage disequilibrium, and high expense. True causal variations and real underlying associations require multiple filters if they are to be detected.
The investigators propose to develop an ED-based system of dynamic studies on blood and saliva samples taken from patients at an early stage of ID. Early stage refers to a process in the patient pathway that precedes most patient recruitment in other studies i.e. on wards or ICU. The two primary objectives are a) to develop an ED-ID biobank; and b) to undertake preliminary discovery and targeted research for the discovery of novel diagnostics, prognostics and therapeutics.
The investigators will define early multiOmics signatures of RID and identify relationships to known and novel ID. Few studies have been published on the integrated panorOmics of COVID-19, and few if any address the early phases of illness or differentiating features in comparison to other respiratory illnesses.
In disease stratified, case-control matched comparisons of adult patients with scaRID attending EDs, what panorOmic signatures differentiate low risk from high risk across a 30-day WHO-Clinical Progression Scale (WHO-CPS)?
For the purpose of this study, scaRID is defined as:
- A fever or a temperature >37.5°C; AND
- One or more relevant symptoms:
- respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, shortness of breath), OR
- systemic symptoms (e.g. chills, rigors, myalgia), OR
- gastrointestinal symptoms (e.g. nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea); AND
- No obvious alternative cause (see exclusion criteria).
PanorOmic associations will be derived from liquid biopsy samples, including whole blood, plasma, serum, white cell pellet, red cell effluent, salivary supernatant, and salivary cells. Liquid biopsy biomarkers include genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, lipidomic and haematological contents.
Hypothesis The investigators hypothesise that in propensity-matched, adult patients with pathogen-specific and disease specific RID (e.g. SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A) there are significant differences in panorOmic signatures that delineate host susceptibility and host response for mild to severe disease.
Objectives
The purpose of this proposal is to develop an emergency PanorOmics Wide Association Study (ePWAS) biobank for the early, rapid biological and pathophysiological characterisation of scaRID. More specifically, in adult patients presenting to EDs with scaRID and within 10 days of symptom onset, we aim:
- To develop an ED-ePWAS-RID biobank of blood and saliva samples
- To use this databank for exploratory and targeted research in the search for diagnostic and prognostic markers and to understand underlying mechanisms of disease
The goals of the biobank and the ePWAS-RID repository are:
- to develop the infrastructure for a sustainable ED-based biobank of blood and saliva samples matched to clinical phenotypes and critical outcomes.
- to develop the repository according to international standards thereby minimising heterogeneity and rendering the material suitable for international research frameworks that aims to facilitate access to human biological materials.
- to prepare a repository for preliminary discovery of novel diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic markers.
- to facilitate targeted research on the pathogenesis of respiratory infections, host susceptibility, and host response.
- to derive biomarker platforms of training set models for early RID detection, pathogen differentiation, monitoring, risk stratification and prognosis; and to validate those models using independent and external datasets.
- Conditions
- Viral Infections, Bacterial Infections, Fungal Infections, Mixed Infection, Mycobacterium Infection, Infection of Uncertain Aetiology
- Being tested
- Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection
- Keywords
- Biobank, Diagnostics and Prognostics, Emergency Medicine, Multiomics and Panoromics, Respiratory Infectious Disease
- Medical subject headings
- Virus Diseases, Bacterial Infections, Mycoses, Coinfection, Mycobacterium Infections, Pneumonia, Sepsis
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Biomarker blood draw and saliva collectionDiagnostic test
Three peripheral 10 - 20mL blood sample (if available) Three 1 - 5mL salivary samples (if available)
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Viral infection | Viral infection subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree Receives: Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection | |
| Bacterial infection | Bacterial infection subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available). Receives: Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection | |
| Viral-Viral co-infection | Viral-viral co-infection subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available). Receives: Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection | |
| Bacterial-Viral co-infection | Bacterial-Viral co-infection subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available). Receives: Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection | |
| Fungal-Mycobacterium co-infection | Bacterial-Viral co-infection subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available). Receives: Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection | |
| Infection of uncertain origin | Infection of uncertain origin subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available). Receives: Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection | |
| Control Subjects | Control group subjects, if they agree, will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms (if applicable); and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if applicable); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if applicable). Receives: Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
WHO-CPS
Differentiation of WHO-CPS >6 from WHO-CPS ≤6
Measured: Up to 30 days
Secondary outcomes (2)
Mortality
Mortality is defined as all-cause, Binary: Yes or No
Measured: Up to 30 days
Mortality
Mortality is defined as all-cause, Binary: Yes or No
Measured: one year
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted20 Apr 2022
- Study start11 Apr 2023
- Primary completion1 May 2028 (estimated)
- Study completion1 May 2028 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (35)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Viral InfectionsStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by The University of Hong KongThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Observational model
- Case-control
- Time perspective
- Prospective
- Enrolment
- 2,000 participants (estimated)
- Target duration
- 1 Year
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- The University of Hong Kong
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Prof. Timothy Hudson RAINER, The University of Hong Kong
- Investigators
- Timothy H Rainer, MD, Principal investigator, The University of Hong Kong
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05336851
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- ePWAS-RID/Rainer/2021
- Status last verified
- May 2026
- First submitted
- 13 Apr 2022
- Last updated
- 12 May 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Publications
Sharfstein JM, Becker SJ, Mello MM. Diagnostic Testing for the Novel Coronavirus. JAMA. 2020 Apr 21;323(15):1437-1438. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.3864. No abstract available.
PubMed 32150622Leung K, Wu JT, Liu D, Leung GM. First-wave COVID-19 transmissibility and severity in China outside Hubei after control measures, and second-wave scenario planning: a modelling impact assessment. Lancet. 2020 Apr 25;395(10233):1382-1393. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30746-7. Epub 2020 Apr 8.
PubMed 32277878Li Q, Guan X, Wu P, Wang X, Zhou L, Tong Y, Ren R, Leung KSM, Lau EHY, Wong JY, Xing X, Xiang N, Wu Y, Li C, Chen Q, Li D, Liu T, Zhao J, Liu M, Tu W, Chen C, Jin L, Yang R, Wang Q, Zhou S, Wang R, Liu H, Luo Y, Liu Y, Shao G, Li H, Tao Z, Yang Y, Deng Z, Liu B, Ma Z, Zhang Y, Shi G, Lam TTY, Wu JT, Gao GF, Cowling BJ, Yang B, Leung GM, Feng Z. Early Transmission Dynamics in Wuhan, China, of Novel Coronavirus-Infected Pneumonia. N Engl J Med. 2020 Mar 26;382(13):1199-1207. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2001316. Epub 2020 Jan 29.
PubMed 31995857He X, Lau EHY, Wu P, Deng X, Wang J, Hao X, Lau YC, Wong JY, Guan Y, Tan X, Mo X, Chen Y, Liao B, Chen W, Hu F, Zhang Q, Zhong M, Wu Y, Zhao L, Zhang F, Cowling BJ, Li F, Leung GM. Temporal dynamics in viral shedding and transmissibility of COVID-19. Nat Med. 2020 May;26(5):672-675. doi: 10.1038/s41591-020-0869-5. Epub 2020 Apr 15.
PubMed 32296168Williamson EJ, Walker AJ, Bhaskaran K, Bacon S, Bates C, Morton CE, Curtis HJ, Mehrkar A, Evans D, Inglesby P, Cockburn J, McDonald HI, MacKenna B, Tomlinson L, Douglas IJ, Rentsch CT, Mathur R, Wong AYS, Grieve R, Harrison D, Forbes H, Schultze A, Croker R, Parry J, Hester F, Harper S, Perera R, Evans SJW, Smeeth L, Goldacre B. Factors associated with COVID-19-related death using OpenSAFELY. Nature. 2020 Aug;584(7821):430-436. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2521-4. Epub 2020 Jul 8.
PubMed 32640463Pairo-Castineira E, Clohisey S, Klaric L, Bretherick AD, Rawlik K, Pasko D, Walker S, Parkinson N, Fourman MH, Russell CD, Furniss J, Richmond A, Gountouna E, Wrobel N, Harrison D, Wang B, Wu Y, Meynert A, Griffiths F, Oosthuyzen W, Kousathanas A, Moutsianas L, Yang Z, Zhai R, Zheng C, Grimes G, Beale R, Millar J, Shih B, Keating S, Zechner M, Haley C, Porteous DJ, Hayward C, Yang J, Knight J, Summers C, Shankar-Hari M, Klenerman P, Turtle L, Ho A, Moore SC, Hinds C, Horby P, Nichol A, Maslove D, Ling L, McAuley D, Montgomery H, Walsh T, Pereira AC, Renieri A; GenOMICC Investigators; ISARIC4C Investigators; COVID-19 Human Genetics Initiative; 23andMe Investigators; BRACOVID Investigators; Gen-COVID Investigators; Shen X, Ponting CP, Fawkes A, Tenesa A, Caulfield M, Scott R, Rowan K, Murphy L, Openshaw PJM, Semple MG, Law A, Vitart V, Wilson JF, Baillie JK. Genetic mechanisms of critical illness in COVID-19. Nature. 2021 Mar;591(7848):92-98. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03065-y. Epub 2020 Dec 11.
PubMed 33307546Legido-Quigley H, Asgari N, Teo YY, Leung GM, Oshitani H, Fukuda K, Cook AR, Hsu LY, Shibuya K, Heymann D. Are high-performing health systems resilient against the COVID-19 epidemic? Lancet. 2020 Mar 14;395(10227):848-850. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30551-1. Epub 2020 Mar 6. No abstract available.
PubMed 32151326Lam TT, Jia N, Zhang YW, Shum MH, Jiang JF, Zhu HC, Tong YG, Shi YX, Ni XB, Liao YS, Li WJ, Jiang BG, Wei W, Yuan TT, Zheng K, Cui XM, Li J, Pei GQ, Qiang X, Cheung WY, Li LF, Sun FF, Qin S, Huang JC, Leung GM, Holmes EC, Hu YL, Guan Y, Cao WC. Identifying SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses in Malayan pangolins. Nature. 2020 Jul;583(7815):282-285. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2169-0. Epub 2020 Mar 26.
PubMed 32218527Hung IF, Lung KC, Tso EY, Liu R, Chung TW, Chu MY, Ng YY, Lo J, Chan J, Tam AR, Shum HP, Chan V, Wu AK, Sin KM, Leung WS, Law WL, Lung DC, Sin S, Yeung P, Yip CC, Zhang RR, Fung AY, Yan EY, Leung KH, Ip JD, Chu AW, Chan WM, Ng AC, Lee R, Fung K, Yeung A, Wu TC, Chan JW, Yan WW, Chan WM, Chan JF, Lie AK, Tsang OT, Cheng VC, Que TL, Lau CS, Chan KH, To KK, Yuen KY. Triple combination of interferon beta-1b, lopinavir-ritonavir, and ribavirin in the treatment of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19: an open-label, randomised, phase 2 trial. Lancet. 2020 May 30;395(10238):1695-1704. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31042-4. Epub 2020 May 10.
PubMed 32401715Tsang KW, Ho PL, Ooi GC, Yee WK, Wang T, Chan-Yeung M, Lam WK, Seto WH, Yam LY, Cheung TM, Wong PC, Lam B, Ip MS, Chan J, Yuen KY, Lai KN. A cluster of cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong. N Engl J Med. 2003 May 15;348(20):1977-85. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa030666. Epub 2003 Mar 31.
PubMed 12671062Wai AKC, Wong CKH, Wong JYH, Xiong X, Chu OCK, Wong MS, Tsui MSH, Rainer TH. Changes in Emergency Department Visits, Diagnostic Groups, and 28-Day Mortality Associated With the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Territory-Wide, Retrospective, Cohort Study. Ann Emerg Med. 2022 Feb;79(2):148-157. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2021.09.424. Epub 2021 Sep 24.
PubMed 34742591Southeast Asia Infectious Disease Clinical Research Network. Causes and outcomes of sepsis in southeast Asia: a multinational multicentre cross-sectional study. Lancet Glob Health. 2017 Feb;5(2):e157-e167. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30007-4.
PubMed 28104185Gu X, Zhou F, Wang Y, Fan G, Cao B. Respiratory viral sepsis: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment. Eur Respir Rev. 2020 Jul 21;29(157):200038. doi: 10.1183/16000617.0038-2020. Print 2020 Sep 30.
PubMed 32699026Davenport EE, Burnham KL, Radhakrishnan J, Humburg P, Hutton P, Mills TC, Rautanen A, Gordon AC, Garrard C, Hill AV, Hinds CJ, Knight JC. Genomic landscape of the individual host response and outcomes in sepsis: a prospective cohort study. Lancet Respir Med. 2016 Apr;4(4):259-71. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(16)00046-1. Epub 2016 Feb 23.
PubMed 26917434Su Y, Chen D, Yuan D, Lausted C, Choi J, Dai CL, Voillet V, Duvvuri VR, Scherler K, Troisch P, Baloni P, Qin G, Smith B, Kornilov SA, Rostomily C, Xu A, Li J, Dong S, Rothchild A, Zhou J, Murray K, Edmark R, Hong S, Heath JE, Earls J, Zhang R, Xie J, Li S, Roper R, Jones L, Zhou Y, Rowen L, Liu R, Mackay S, O'Mahony DS, Dale CR, Wallick JA, Algren HA, Zager MA; ISB-Swedish COVID19 Biobanking Unit; Wei W, Price ND, Huang S, Subramanian N, Wang K, Magis AT, Hadlock JJ, Hood L, Aderem A, Bluestone JA, Lanier LL, Greenberg PD, Gottardo R, Davis MM, Goldman JD, Heath JR. Multi-Omics Resolves a Sharp Disease-State Shift between Mild and Moderate COVID-19. Cell. 2020 Dec 10;183(6):1479-1495.e20. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.037. Epub 2020 Oct 28.
PubMed 33171100
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 12 May 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Emergency PanorOmic Wide Association Study in Respiratory Infectious Disease (ePWAS-RID)
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05336851
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- ePWAS-RID/Rainer/2021
- Conditions
- Viral Infections, Bacterial Infections, Fungal Infections, Mixed Infection, Mycobacterium Infection, Infection of Uncertain Aetiology
- Keywords
- Biobank, Diagnostics and Prognostics, Emergency Medicine, Multiomics and Panoromics, Respiratory Infectious Disease
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 2,000 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- The University of Hong KongUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 11 Apr 2023 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 1 May 2028 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 1 May 2028 (estimated)
- First posted
- 20 Apr 2022 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Develop an emergency PanorOmics Wide Association Study (ePWAS) for the early, rapid biological and pathophysiological characterisation of known and novel Infectious Diseases in adult patients presenting to emergency departments with suspected, acute, community-acquired respiratory infectious disease (scaRID).
Phase 1
- Develop an ED-ID biobank (named ePWAS-RID). Phase 2
- Targeted research for the discovery of novel diagnostics, prognostics and therapeutics
Detailed description
Introduction
Pandemic Preparedness
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected over 220 million people, claimed over 450 000 lives and invoked variable responses across the world. Delays in acquiring quality clinical and scientific material on the transmissibility, clinical nature, outcomes and lethality of novel and known infectious diseases (ID) translate into healthcare inefficiencies, societal and economic stress, and increased morbidity and mortality. Regions with greater success in the fight against COVID-19 were well prepared before the pandemic.
Pathogens
The pathogens most likely to cause annual epidemics and pandemics are respiratory viruses. In Asia, viral infections account for 30-40% of sepsis cases. Each year there are 100 million cases of viral community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) of which 60% progress to sepsis. These viruses cause host-mediated, inflammatory, immune responses which progresses through three phases: preliminary regulated inflammation; intermediate dysregulated proinflammation; and late dysregulated hypoinflammation.
Clinical Spectrum
RID is a heterogeneous population of patients. This complex spectrum of heterogeneity extends throughout the underlying molecular biology and pathophysiology from genome to phenome. It includes significant individual variation in regulated and dysregulated systemic inflammatory host responses to infection in the presence and absence of organ dysfunction. Critical illness from any ID involves both host susceptibility to the pathogen and host propensity to develop dysregulated inflammation and organ failure (e.g. pulmonary inflammation and/or acute kidney injury).
PanorOmics-Wide Association Studies
In the five years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Kingdom's Genetics Of Mortality In Critical Care (GenOMICC) study recruited patients with a spectrum of critical illness syndromes (e.g. influenza, sepsis, and emerging infections) to better understand host mechanisms that lead to life-threatening outcomes. As a result, the GenOMICC investigators, along with collaborators from Spain and Italy, were well placed to perform genomic-association studies on critically ill COVID-19 patients and to make recommendations for future studies.
An integrated panorOmics approach has the potential to uncover causal associations and linkages across the entire spectrum of host biology including genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and lipidomics, through to clinical phenotype. However, panorOmics as a discipline faces the same challenges as Genome-wide association studies (GWAS), only more so. Although GWAS correlate genomic loci with complex signatures and traits, efficient detection is hindered by false positives, linkage disequilibrium, and high expense. True causal variations and real underlying associations require multiple filters if they are to be detected.
The investigators propose to develop an ED-based system of dynamic studies on blood and saliva samples taken from patients at an early stage of ID. Early stage refers to a process in the patient pathway that precedes most patient recruitment in other studies i.e. on wards or ICU. The two primary objectives are a) to develop an ED-ID biobank; and b) to undertake preliminary discovery and targeted research for the discovery of novel diagnostics, prognostics and therapeutics.
The investigators will define early multiOmics signatures of RID and identify relationships to known and novel ID. Few studies have been published on the integrated panorOmics of COVID-19, and few if any address the early phases of illness or differentiating features in comparison to other respiratory illnesses.
In disease stratified, case-control matched comparisons of adult patients with scaRID attending EDs, what panorOmic signatures differentiate low risk from high risk across a 30-day WHO-Clinical Progression Scale (WHO-CPS)?
For the purpose of this study, scaRID is defined as:
- A fever or a temperature >37.5°C; AND
- One or more relevant symptoms:
- respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, shortness of breath), OR
- systemic symptoms (e.g. chills, rigors, myalgia), OR
- gastrointestinal symptoms (e.g. nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea); AND
- No obvious alternative cause (see exclusion criteria).
PanorOmic associations will be derived from liquid biopsy samples, including whole blood, plasma, serum, white cell pellet, red cell effluent, salivary supernatant, and salivary cells. Liquid biopsy biomarkers include genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, lipidomic and haematological contents.
Hypothesis The investigators hypothesise that in propensity-matched, adult patients with pathogen-specific and disease specific RID (e.g. SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A) there are significant differences in panorOmic signatures that delineate host susceptibility and host response for mild to severe disease.
Objectives
The purpose of this proposal is to develop an emergency PanorOmics Wide Association Study (ePWAS) biobank for the early, rapid biological and pathophysiological characterisation of scaRID. More specifically, in adult patients presenting to EDs with scaRID and within 10 days of symptom onset, we aim:
- To develop an ED-ePWAS-RID biobank of blood and saliva samples
- To use this databank for exploratory and targeted research in the search for diagnostic and prognostic markers and to understand underlying mechanisms of disease
The goals of the biobank and the ePWAS-RID repository are:
- to develop the infrastructure for a sustainable ED-based biobank of blood and saliva samples matched to clinical phenotypes and critical outcomes.
- to develop the repository according to international standards thereby minimising heterogeneity and rendering the material suitable for international research frameworks that aims to facilitate access to human biological materials.
- to prepare a repository for preliminary discovery of novel diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic markers.
- to facilitate targeted research on the pathogenesis of respiratory infections, host susceptibility, and host response.
- to derive biomarker platforms of training set models for early RID detection, pathogen differentiation, monitoring, risk stratification and prognosis; and to validate those models using independent and external datasets.
Study design
- Observational model
- Case-control
- Time perspective
- Prospective
- Target follow-up
- 1 Year
- Number of arms
- 7
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Viral infection | – | Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collectionViral infection subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree |
| Bacterial infection | – | Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collectionBacterial infection subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available). |
| Viral-Viral co-infection | – | Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collectionViral-viral co-infection subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available). |
| Bacterial-Viral co-infection | – | Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collectionBacterial-Viral co-infection subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available). |
| Fungal-Mycobacterium co-infection | – | Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collectionBacterial-Viral co-infection subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available). |
| Infection of uncertain origin | – | Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collectionInfection of uncertain origin subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available). |
| Control Subjects | – | Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collectionControl group subjects, if they agree, will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms (if applicable); and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if applicable); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if applicable). |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 100 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
- Study population
- Suspected, acute, community-acquired, respiratory, infectious disease presenting to emergency department with symptom onset <8 days and reported fever or chills or aural temperature >37.5°C
Key inclusion criteria (19 listed)
- Adults ≥18 years of age; AND
- Suspected, acute, community-acquired, respiratory, infectious disease (scaRID)*; AND
- Informed consent.
- Community acquired (not hospitalised for <28 days); AND
- Acute infection (defined as symptom onset <8 days and any ONE of reported fever or chills or aural temperature >37.5°C or hypothermia or leucocytosis or leucopaenia or new altered mental status); AND
Key exclusion criteria (16 listed)
- Refusal of consent;
- Recent hospitalisation (<28 days);
- Enrolled in another clinical trial
- Cellulitis;
- Skin or orthopaedic infections;
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Biomarker blood draw and saliva collectionThree peripheral 10 - 20mL blood sample (if available) Three 1 - 5mL salivary samples (if available) | Diagnostic test | Bacterial infection, Bacterial-Viral co-infection, Control Subjects, Fungal-Mycobacterium co-infection, Infection of uncertain origin, Viral infection, Viral-Viral co-infection |
Primary outcome
WHO-CPS
Time frame: Up to 30 days
Differentiation of WHO-CPS >6 from WHO-CPS ≤6
2 secondary outcomes
Mortality
Time frame: Up to 30 days
Mortality
Time frame: one year
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 12 May 2026.
- Background: PubMed 32150622Sharfstein JM, Becker SJ, Mello MM. Diagnostic Testing for the Novel Coronavirus. JAMA. 2020 Apr 21;323(15):1437-1438. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.3864. No abstract available.
- Background: PubMed 32277878Leung K, Wu JT, Liu D, Leung GM. First-wave COVID-19 transmissibility and severity in China outside Hubei after control measures, and second-wave scenario planning: a modelling impact assessment. Lancet. 2020 Apr 25;395(10233):1382-1393. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30746-7. Epub 2020 Apr 8.
- Background: PubMed 31995857Li Q, Guan X, Wu P, Wang X, Zhou L, Tong Y, Ren R, Leung KSM, Lau EHY, Wong JY, Xing X, Xiang N, Wu Y, Li C, Chen Q, Li D, Liu T, Zhao J, Liu M, Tu W, Chen C, Jin L, Yang R, Wang Q, Zhou S, Wang R, Liu H, Luo Y, Liu Y, Shao G, Li H, Tao Z, Yang Y, Deng Z, Liu B, Ma Z, Zhang Y, Shi G, Lam TTY, Wu JT, Gao GF, Cowling BJ, Yang B, Leung GM, Feng Z. Early Transmission Dynamics in Wuhan, China, of Novel Coronavirus-Infected Pneumonia. N Engl J Med. 2020 Mar 26;382(13):1199-1207. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2001316. Epub 2020 Jan 29.
- Background: PubMed 32296168He X, Lau EHY, Wu P, Deng X, Wang J, Hao X, Lau YC, Wong JY, Guan Y, Tan X, Mo X, Chen Y, Liao B, Chen W, Hu F, Zhang Q, Zhong M, Wu Y, Zhao L, Zhang F, Cowling BJ, Li F, Leung GM. Temporal dynamics in viral shedding and transmissibility of COVID-19. Nat Med. 2020 May;26(5):672-675. doi: 10.1038/s41591-020-0869-5. Epub 2020 Apr 15.
- Background: PubMed 32640463Williamson EJ, Walker AJ, Bhaskaran K, Bacon S, Bates C, Morton CE, Curtis HJ, Mehrkar A, Evans D, Inglesby P, Cockburn J, McDonald HI, MacKenna B, Tomlinson L, Douglas IJ, Rentsch CT, Mathur R, Wong AYS, Grieve R, Harrison D, Forbes H, Schultze A, Croker R, Parry J, Hester F, Harper S, Perera R, Evans SJW, Smeeth L, Goldacre B. Factors associated with COVID-19-related death using OpenSAFELY. Nature. 2020 Aug;584(7821):430-436. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2521-4. Epub 2020 Jul 8.
- Background: PubMed 33307546Pairo-Castineira E, Clohisey S, Klaric L, Bretherick AD, Rawlik K, Pasko D, Walker S, Parkinson N, Fourman MH, Russell CD, Furniss J, Richmond A, Gountouna E, Wrobel N, Harrison D, Wang B, Wu Y, Meynert A, Griffiths F, Oosthuyzen W, Kousathanas A, Moutsianas L, Yang Z, Zhai R, Zheng C, Grimes G, Beale R, Millar J, Shih B, Keating S, Zechner M, Haley C, Porteous DJ, Hayward C, Yang J, Knight J, Summers C, Shankar-Hari M, Klenerman P, Turtle L, Ho A, Moore SC, Hinds C, Horby P, Nichol A, Maslove D, Ling L, McAuley D, Montgomery H, Walsh T, Pereira AC, Renieri A; GenOMICC Investigators; ISARIC4C Investigators; COVID-19 Human Genetics Initiative; 23andMe Investigators; BRACOVID Investigators; Gen-COVID Investigators; Shen X, Ponting CP, Fawkes A, Tenesa A, Caulfield M, Scott R, Rowan K, Murphy L, Openshaw PJM, Semple MG, Law A, Vitart V, Wilson JF, Baillie JK. Genetic mechanisms of critical illness in COVID-19. Nature. 2021 Mar;591(7848):92-98. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03065-y. Epub 2020 Dec 11.
- Background: PubMed 32151326Legido-Quigley H, Asgari N, Teo YY, Leung GM, Oshitani H, Fukuda K, Cook AR, Hsu LY, Shibuya K, Heymann D. Are high-performing health systems resilient against the COVID-19 epidemic? Lancet. 2020 Mar 14;395(10227):848-850. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30551-1. Epub 2020 Mar 6. No abstract available.
- Background: PubMed 32218527Lam TT, Jia N, Zhang YW, Shum MH, Jiang JF, Zhu HC, Tong YG, Shi YX, Ni XB, Liao YS, Li WJ, Jiang BG, Wei W, Yuan TT, Zheng K, Cui XM, Li J, Pei GQ, Qiang X, Cheung WY, Li LF, Sun FF, Qin S, Huang JC, Leung GM, Holmes EC, Hu YL, Guan Y, Cao WC. Identifying SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses in Malayan pangolins. Nature. 2020 Jul;583(7815):282-285. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2169-0. Epub 2020 Mar 26.
- Background: PubMed 32401715Hung IF, Lung KC, Tso EY, Liu R, Chung TW, Chu MY, Ng YY, Lo J, Chan J, Tam AR, Shum HP, Chan V, Wu AK, Sin KM, Leung WS, Law WL, Lung DC, Sin S, Yeung P, Yip CC, Zhang RR, Fung AY, Yan EY, Leung KH, Ip JD, Chu AW, Chan WM, Ng AC, Lee R, Fung K, Yeung A, Wu TC, Chan JW, Yan WW, Chan WM, Chan JF, Lie AK, Tsang OT, Cheng VC, Que TL, Lau CS, Chan KH, To KK, Yuen KY. Triple combination of interferon beta-1b, lopinavir-ritonavir, and ribavirin in the treatment of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19: an open-label, randomised, phase 2 trial. Lancet. 2020 May 30;395(10238):1695-1704. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31042-4. Epub 2020 May 10.
- Background: PubMed 12671062Tsang KW, Ho PL, Ooi GC, Yee WK, Wang T, Chan-Yeung M, Lam WK, Seto WH, Yam LY, Cheung TM, Wong PC, Lam B, Ip MS, Chan J, Yuen KY, Lai KN. A cluster of cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong. N Engl J Med. 2003 May 15;348(20):1977-85. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa030666. Epub 2003 Mar 31.
- Background: PubMed 34742591Wai AKC, Wong CKH, Wong JYH, Xiong X, Chu OCK, Wong MS, Tsui MSH, Rainer TH. Changes in Emergency Department Visits, Diagnostic Groups, and 28-Day Mortality Associated With the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Territory-Wide, Retrospective, Cohort Study. Ann Emerg Med. 2022 Feb;79(2):148-157. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2021.09.424. Epub 2021 Sep 24.
- Background: PubMed 28104185Southeast Asia Infectious Disease Clinical Research Network. Causes and outcomes of sepsis in southeast Asia: a multinational multicentre cross-sectional study. Lancet Glob Health. 2017 Feb;5(2):e157-e167. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30007-4.
- The Human Protein Atlas. Accessed 15th September 2021Link provided by the sponsor.
- Hall A. Eight things you should consider before setting up a biobank. Human Tissue Authority. Accessed on 15th September 2021Link provided by the sponsor.
- Accessed on 22nd July 2021Link provided by the sponsor.
- Accessed on 22nd July 2021Link provided by the sponsor.
- Coronavirus (COVID-19). Accessed 16th September 2021Link provided by the sponsor.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Timothy H Rainer, MD principal investigator
The University of Hong Kong
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Viral Infections and Bacterial Infections, run by The University of Hong Kong at 1 site in China.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 19 inclusion and 16 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 12 May 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in China. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Timothy H Rainer, MD (+852 39176846, thrainer@hku.hk), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
WHO-CPS (time frame: Up to 30 days). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT05336851, which also lists 35 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 12 May 2026.