Infectious diseases epidemiology, quantitative methodology, and clinical research in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspective from a European country

Abstract

Starting from historic reflections, the current SARS-CoV-2 induced COVID-19 pandemic is examined from various perspectives, in terms of what it implies for the implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions, the modeling and monitoring of the epidemic, the development of early-warning systems, the study of mortality, prevalence estimation, diagnostic and serological testing, vaccine development, and ultimately clinical trials. Emphasis is placed on how the pandemic had led to unprecedented speed in methodological and clinical development, the pitfalls thereof, but also the opportunities that it engenders for national and international collaboration, and how it has simplified and sped up procedures. We also study the impact of the pandemic on clinical trials in other indications. We note that it has placed biostatistics, epidemiology, virology, infectiology, and vaccinology, and related fields in the spotlight in an unprecedented way, implying great opportunities, but also the need to communicate effectively, often amidst controversy.

COVID-19 surveillance in the Flemish school system: development of systematic data collection within the Public Health School System and descriptive analysis of cases reported between October 2020 and June 2021

“…The found differences in cumulative incidence by province re ect the heterogeneous provincial distribution of community cases. Even in the densely populated and well-connected region of Flanders, SARS-CoV-2 infection rates show a local distribution (34), dependent on heterogeneous mixing patterns and subject to different policies (35,36). Research shows that transmission in schools depends on the level of community transmission (37,38).…”

Analysis and Simulation of Epidemic COVID-19 Curves with the Verhulst Model Applied to Statistical Inhomogeneous Age Groups

“…The aim of the simulation is to enlighten some main ideas in a broad-brush picture. Therefore, the above flexible analytical phenomenological model V n2 (logistic with n = 2) is chosen [4,5]. The refined discrete models are at the expense of too many unknown parameters and a complex set of equations with less insight.…”

Statistical Considerations for Trials in Adjuvant Treatment of Colorectal Cancer

“…Adjuvant therapy is typically a late addition to the portfolio of a given anticancer agent, given the need to first ensure its efficacy in the advanced disease setting. The recent pandemic of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has shown us that clinical trials can be conceived and deployed in a more expedited manner than has usually been the case in oncology and other areas [ 54 ]. Among the many roadblocks to the optimization of trial design and conduct with the aim of gaining speed are the often exaggerated or undue concerns with bureaucracy, data quality, data missingness, authorship and data “ownership”.…”