a few months ago, a group of us, reading reports of unusual patterns of RSV circulation in Australia (a "winter in summer" ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…)
wondered whether the same might happen this year in the United Kingdom and Ireland 🧵1/n
wondered whether the same might happen this year in the United Kingdom and Ireland 🧵1/n
the premise was simple: could we use a simple online questionnaire, collecting only non-patient identifiable information,
to better understand the geographical dynamics and clinical manifestations of RSV circulation in 2021/22?
It turns out we can 2/n
to better understand the geographical dynamics and clinical manifestations of RSV circulation in 2021/22?
It turns out we can 2/n
thanks to BronchSTART, a study powered by hundreds of clinicians in Emergency Departments, working as part of the PERUKI Network, we can now watch this year's RSV epidemic play out in real time 3/n
It has been really inspiring working with @PERUKItweep to put together a study protocol wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/6-120 ( data entry into @ProjectREDCap ) 4/n
and with @MyMicroreact to create a data visualisation tool to see what is happening across the UK and Ireland; our dashboard was launched today beta.microreact.org/project/cTkH24… 5/n
BronchSTART would not have taken off without the extraordinary enthusiasm and hard work of clinicians and researchers across the country: we have 31 sites recruiting so far (more to come), and already over 2,500 patients recruited 6/n
many of these clinicians have working outside their scheduled hours, on already busy shifts, to enter data for the study 7/n
the result is an incredibly high granularity map of bronchiolitis cases across the UK and Ireland which shows that this year's RSV epidemic is playing out in complicated and interesting ways, with much more regional heterogeneity than we have seen previously 8/n
our dashboard allows you to both visualise national and local trends
we can see that activity has peaked in some parts of England, but is still increasing in Scotland 9/n
we can see that activity has peaked in some parts of England, but is still increasing in Scotland 9/n
as sites continue to add data we'll see whether this summer's peak will have eaten sufficiently into our immunity debt to impact on this winter season
or whether there is worse to come 10/n
or whether there is worse to come 10/n
a big shout out to Ormskirk District General Hospital, the biggest recruiter to the study so far, where their summer season has now finished 11/n
the dashboard is still in development so please contact us if you think it could be improved in any way 12/n
do reply to this thread if you are recruiting to BronchSTART
share pictures of your study team
and let us know how long it is taking you to fill in the study forms - reports so far are that it only takes 2-3 minutes 13/n
share pictures of your study team
and let us know how long it is taking you to fill in the study forms - reports so far are that it only takes 2-3 minutes 13/n
it has been a real privilege to be a (small) part of this fantastic project and see what can be achieved with enthusiasm, teamwork, and a shared sense of purpose @Damian_Roland @mdlyttle @wheezylikesund1 @livvyswann 14/n
thank you in particular to @MyMicroreact for setting up the dashboard 15/n
and watch this space to see what happens over the autumn and winter END
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