Pandemic, COVID-19BEreadyNCT06739499
Bern, Get Ready (BEready) Cohort Study for Pandemic Preparedness
An observational study of Pandemic, COVID-19 and Infections, run by University of Bern at 1 site in Switzerland.
Trial summary
The BEready project aims to find out how people in the Canton of Bern can be helped to be more prepared for the next pandemic. BEready wants to understand how infections spread among people as well as between people and animals. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Any ageHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Pandemic, COVID-19, Infections, Zoonoses
- How many people
- 2,157 participants
- Where
- 1 siteSwitzerland
- Study dates
- 29 Apr 2024to 31 Dec 2100
- 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 Any age
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Study population: BEready will include a spectrum of the Bernese population living in private households, including adults, children and pets. A private household is defined as a person living alone or group of persons living in the same dwelling. The study population for the BEready cohort will be enrolled from different sources in the source population of the canton of Bern. BEready aims to enrol around 1,500 households in total from: * Households already participating in the BEready pilot study * A random selection of households in Bern using the cantonal residents' register * Volunteer households from the general public
Who may be able to join
- Informed consent
- Residence (average of more than 3 days/week) in a private household in the canton of Bern where at least one member aged 18 agreed to take part.
- For adults, children aged 14 years or older, and parents/legal guardians: internet connection (Wi-Fi, fixed or on a mobile phone) and personal email address.
- For adults, children aged 11 years or older, and parents/legal guardians: able to understand, speak, read and write German, French and/or English.
- Inclusion criteria for household pets: Pets of eligible household members with the consent of their owners.
- Exclusion criteria for adults and children: Currently planned move outside the canton of Bern
Who cannot join
None listed.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: Bern, Get Ready (BEready) Population-based Cohort Study for Pandemic Preparedness: Main Study
The BEready project aims to find out how people in the Canton of Bern can be helped to be more prepared for the next pandemic. BEready wants to understand how infections spread among people as well as between people and animals. BEready wants to find out how social and environmental factors can influence the transmission or catching of infectious diseases. BEready wants to better understand how households and their pets in the Canton of Bern were and continue to be affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Read the detailed description
The overall aim is to establish BEready as a 'pandemic preparedness cohort', a cohort with a well-characterised study population of households, which has an infrastructure to conduct studies about infectious diseases, and which can be rapidly mobilised to respond to a new pandemic. BEready aims to understand the epidemiology and transmission of infectious diseases (particularly viral respiratory pathogens) in households including pets in the canton of Bern, and to engage diverse communities in efforts to strengthen pandemic preparedness.
The objectives are:
- to study the distribution and timing of infectious diseases and transmission patterns of circulating infectious diseases, both between individuals and at the human-animal interface (One Health)
- to study social (e.g. gender, affective polarisation) and environmental factors (e.g. climate change), which may affect transmission or acquisition of infectious diseases;
- to understand how households, including their pets, in the canton of Bern have been and will be affected by COVID-19; and
- to engage diverse communities in ongoing efforts to strengthen pandemic and public health literacy, and to prepare for the public health response to a new pandemic.
- Keywords
- One Health, Pandemic preparedness, Community engagement
- Medical subject headings
- COVID-19, Infections, Zoonoses, Respiratory Tract Infections
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Response rate among the randomly sampled participants
Percentage agreeing to take part, divided by the number invited, by age and sex (study level)
Measured: Baseline
Attendance of follow up visits (to derive factors associated with research participation)
Percentage of completed questionnaire (study level)
Measured: At every annual follow-up for up to 100 years
Incidence of respiratory virus detection in symptomatic persons
Test positivity: percentage of nasal swab samples with a positive result for specific respiratory viruses among all viruses detected amongst those reporting disease events cumulatively by the end of one year; incidence rate for any detected virus and for specific viruses: number of nasal swab samples with a positive result per 100 person years of follow-up (individual level, infection-related)
Measured: At the end of a 12 months period
Seroprevalence of antibodies to respiratory viruses
Proportion of serum samples with antibodies to specific respiratory viruses (individual level, infection-related)
Measured: At baseline and annually thereafter for up to 100 years
Incidence of co-infection/co-colonisation at the pet/owner interface
Proportion of serum samples with antibodies to specific parasites (individual level, infection-related)
Measured: Throughout follow-up for up to 100 years
Incidence of animal diseases diagnosed through syndromic surveillance
Based on each case definition, e.g. febrile illness, incidence of syndromic diagnoses by month (individual level, infection-related)
Measured: Throughout follow-up for up to 100 years
Prevalence of post-acute viral symptoms
Individual level, infection-related
Measured: At baseline and annually thereafter for up to 100 years
Gender roles
Gender is a cross-cutting theme. Associations with gender measured by questionnaire will be examined for all endpoints (individual level, personal, social, demographic).
Measured: At all timepoints for up to 100 years
Number of daily social contacts
Numbers of social contacts between humans, according to age group and location (individual level, personal, social, demographic)
Measured: At baseline and annually thereafter for up to 100 years
Affective polarisation
Mean and standard deviation of Likert scale scores (individual level, personal, social, demographic)
Measured: At baseline
Knowledge of pandemic preparedness
Knowledge measured by questionnaire. Summary of the survey data (individual level, personal, social, demographic)
Measured: At baseline
Knowledge of vector-borne diseases
Knowledge measured by questionnaire. Summary of the survey data (individual level, personal, social, demographic)
Measured: At baseline
Experienced marginalisation
Experience measured by questionnaire. Summary of the survey data (individual level, personal, social, demographic)
Measured: At baseline
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted18 Dec 2024
- Study start29 Apr 2024
- Primary completion31 Dec 2100 (estimated)
- Study completion31 Dec 2100 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Pandemic, COVID-19Studies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by University of BernThe 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
- Cohort
- Time perspective
- Prospective
- Enrolment
- 2,157 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of Bern
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Stiftung Vinetum
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Nicola Low, Prof. Dr. med., Principal investigator, University of Bern
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06739499
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 2023-02290
- Other IDs
- 2023
- Acronym
- BEready
- Status last verified
- Feb 2026
- First submitted
- 9 Dec 2024
- Last updated
- 5 Feb 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: Upon request
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 5 Feb 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Bern, Get Ready (BEready) Population-based Cohort Study for Pandemic Preparedness: Main Study
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06739499
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- BEready / 2023-02290
- Keywords
- One Health, Pandemic preparedness, Community engagement
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Active, not recruiting
- Enrolment
- 2,157 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- University of BernUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Stiftung Vinetum
- Study start
- 29 Apr 2024 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 31 Dec 2100 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 31 Dec 2100 (estimated)
- First posted
- 18 Dec 2024 (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.
The BEready project aims to find out how people in the Canton of Bern can be helped to be more prepared for the next pandemic. BEready wants to understand how infections spread among people as well as between people and animals. BEready wants to find out how social and environmental factors can influence the transmission or catching of infectious diseases. BEready wants to better understand how households and their pets in the Canton of Bern were and continue to be affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Detailed description
The overall aim is to establish BEready as a 'pandemic preparedness cohort', a cohort with a well-characterised study population of households, which has an infrastructure to conduct studies about infectious diseases, and which can be rapidly mobilised to respond to a new pandemic. BEready aims to understand the epidemiology and transmission of infectious diseases (particularly viral respiratory pathogens) in households including pets in the canton of Bern, and to engage diverse communities in efforts to strengthen pandemic preparedness.
The objectives are:
- to study the distribution and timing of infectious diseases and transmission patterns of circulating infectious diseases, both between individuals and at the human-animal interface (One Health)
- to study social (e.g. gender, affective polarisation) and environmental factors (e.g. climate change), which may affect transmission or acquisition of infectious diseases;
- to understand how households, including their pets, in the canton of Bern have been and will be affected by COVID-19; and
- to engage diverse communities in ongoing efforts to strengthen pandemic and public health literacy, and to prepare for the public health response to a new pandemic.
Study design
- Observational model
- Cohort
- Time perspective
- Prospective
Who may qualify
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult, Older adult
- Study population
- BEready will include a spectrum of the Bernese population living in private households, including adults, children and pets. A private household is defined as a person living alone or group of persons living in the same dwelling. The study population for the BEready cohort will be enrolled from different sources in the source population of the canton of Bern. BEready aims to enrol around 1,500 households in total from: * Households already participating in the BEready pilot study * A random selection of households in Bern using the cantonal residents' register * Volunteer households from the general public
Key inclusion criteria (6 listed)
- Informed consent
- Residence (average of more than 3 days/week) in a private household in the canton of Bern where at least one member aged 18 agreed to take part.
- For adults, children aged 14 years or older, and parents/legal guardians: internet connection (Wi-Fi, fixed or on a mobile phone) and personal email address.
- For adults, children aged 11 years or older, and parents/legal guardians: able to understand, speak, read and write German, French and/or English.
- Inclusion criteria for household pets: Pets of eligible household members with the consent of their owners.
Key exclusion criteria (0 listed)
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Primary outcome
Response rate among the randomly sampled participants
Time frame: Baseline
Percentage agreeing to take part, divided by the number invited, by age and sex (study level)
Attendance of follow up visits (to derive factors associated with research participation)
Time frame: At every annual follow-up for up to 100 years
Percentage of completed questionnaire (study level)
Incidence of respiratory virus detection in symptomatic persons
Time frame: At the end of a 12 months period
Test positivity: percentage of nasal swab samples with a positive result for specific respiratory viruses among all viruses detected amongst those reporting disease events cumulatively by the end of one year; incidence rate for any detected virus and for specific viruses: number of nasal swab samples with a positive result per 100 person years of follow-up (individual level, infection-related)
Seroprevalence of antibodies to respiratory viruses
Time frame: At baseline and annually thereafter for up to 100 years
Proportion of serum samples with antibodies to specific respiratory viruses (individual level, infection-related)
Incidence of co-infection/co-colonisation at the pet/owner interface
Time frame: Throughout follow-up for up to 100 years
Proportion of serum samples with antibodies to specific parasites (individual level, infection-related)
Incidence of animal diseases diagnosed through syndromic surveillance
Time frame: Throughout follow-up for up to 100 years
Based on each case definition, e.g. febrile illness, incidence of syndromic diagnoses by month (individual level, infection-related)
Prevalence of post-acute viral symptoms
Time frame: At baseline and annually thereafter for up to 100 years
Individual level, infection-related
Gender roles
Time frame: At all timepoints for up to 100 years
Gender is a cross-cutting theme. Associations with gender measured by questionnaire will be examined for all endpoints (individual level, personal, social, demographic).
Number of daily social contacts
Time frame: At baseline and annually thereafter for up to 100 years
Numbers of social contacts between humans, according to age group and location (individual level, personal, social, demographic)
Affective polarisation
Time frame: At baseline
Mean and standard deviation of Likert scale scores (individual level, personal, social, demographic)
Knowledge of pandemic preparedness
Time frame: At baseline
Knowledge measured by questionnaire. Summary of the survey data (individual level, personal, social, demographic)
Knowledge of vector-borne diseases
Time frame: At baseline
Knowledge measured by questionnaire. Summary of the survey data (individual level, personal, social, demographic)
Experienced marginalisation
Time frame: At baseline
Experience measured by questionnaire. Summary of the survey data (individual level, personal, social, demographic)
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 5 Feb 2026.
- BEready Cohort study websiteLink provided by the sponsor.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. Upon request
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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. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Nicola Low, Prof. Dr. med. principal investigator
University of Bern
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 Pandemic, COVID-19 and Infections, run by University of Bern at 1 site in Switzerland.
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 6 inclusion and 0 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: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 5 Feb 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 Switzerland. 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?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Response rate among the randomly sampled participants (time frame: Baseline). The study lists 13 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
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 5 Feb 2026.