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Fanciulli A, Skorić MK, Leys F, Carneiro DR, Campese N, Calandra-Buonaura G, Camaradou J, Chiaro G, Cortelli P, Falup-Pecurariu C, Granata R, Guaraldi P, Helbok R, Hilz MJ, Iodice V, Jordan J, Kaal ECA, Kamondi A, Le Traon AP, Rocha I, Sellner J, Senard JM, Terkelsen A, Wenning GK, Moro E, Berger T, Thijs RD, Struhal W, Habek M. EFAS/EAN survey on the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on European clinical autonomic education and research. Clin Auton Res 2023; 33:777-790. [PMID: 37792127 PMCID: PMC10751256 DOI: 10.1007/s10286-023-00985-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE To understand the influence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on clinical autonomic education and research in Europe. METHODS We invited 84 European autonomic centers to complete an online survey, recorded the pre-pandemic-to-pandemic percentage of junior participants in the annual congresses of the European Federation of Autonomic Societies (EFAS) and European Academy of Neurology (EAN) and the pre-pandemic-to-pandemic number of PubMed publications on neurological disorders. RESULTS Forty-six centers answered the survey (55%). Twenty-nine centers were involved in clinical autonomic education and experienced pandemic-related didactic interruptions for 9 (5; 9) months. Ninety percent (n = 26/29) of autonomic educational centers reported a negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education quality, and 93% (n = 27/29) established e-learning models. Both the 2020 joint EAN-EFAS virtual congress and the 2021 (virtual) and 2022 (hybrid) EFAS and EAN congresses marked higher percentages of junior participants than in 2019. Forty-one respondents (89%) were autonomic researchers, and 29 of them reported pandemic-related trial interruptions for 5 (2; 9) months. Since the pandemic begin, almost half of the respondents had less time for scientific writing. Likewise, the number of PubMed publications on autonomic topics showed the smallest increase compared with other neurological fields in 2020-2021 and the highest drop in 2022. Autonomic research centers that amended their trial protocols for telemedicine (38%, n = 16/41) maintained higher clinical caseloads during the first pandemic year. CONCLUSIONS The COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial negative impact on European clinical autonomic education and research. At the same time, it promoted digitalization, favoring more equitable access to autonomic education and improved trial design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Fanciulli
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria.
| | - Magdalena Krbot Skorić
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Centre, Zagreb, Croatia
- Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Fabian Leys
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Diogo Reis Carneiro
- Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Neurology Department, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Nicole Campese
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Giovanna Calandra-Buonaura
- IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Jennifer Camaradou
- Patient Partner of the EAN Scientific Panel for Autonomic Nervous System Disorders, London, UK
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Giacomo Chiaro
- Autonomic Unit, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, UK
- UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Pietro Cortelli
- IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | | | - Roberta Granata
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Pietro Guaraldi
- IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Raimund Helbok
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria
- Department of Neurology, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria
| | - Max J Hilz
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Neurology, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Valeria Iodice
- Autonomic Unit, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, UK
- UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jens Jordan
- German Aerospace Center, Cologne, Germany
- Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Evert C A Kaal
- Department of Neurology, Maasstad Ziekenhuis, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Anita Kamondi
- Department of Neurology, National Institute of Mental Health, Neurology and Neurosurgery, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Neurology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Anne Pavy Le Traon
- Department of Neurology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Isabel Rocha
- Cardiovascular Autonomic Function Lab, Faculty of Medicine and CCUL, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Johann Sellner
- Landesklinikum Mistelbach-Gänserndorf, Mistelbach, Austria
- Department of Neurology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Jean Michel Senard
- Institut des Maladies Métaboliques et Cardiovasculaires, INSERM U 1297, Toulouse, France
| | - Astrid Terkelsen
- Department of Neurology, Aarhus University Hospital and Danish Pain Research Center, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Gregor K Wenning
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Elena Moro
- Division of Neurology, Grenoble Institute of Neuroscience, Grenoble Alpes University, CHU of Grenoble, Grenoble, France
| | - Thomas Berger
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Comprehensive Center for Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Roland D Thijs
- Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Stichting Epilepsie Instellingen Nederland (SEIN), Heemstede, The Netherlands
| | - Walter Struhal
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Tulln, Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, Tulln, Austria
| | - Mario Habek
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Centre, Zagreb, Croatia
- Department of Neurology, University of Zagreb, School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
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Turecek PL, Hibbett D, Kreil TR. Plasma procurement and plasma product safety in light of the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of the plasma industry. Vox Sang 2022; 117:780-788. [PMID: 35298841 PMCID: PMC9115499 DOI: 10.1111/vox.13267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2021] [Revised: 02/12/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
This review, written from the perspective of the plasma industry, discusses plasma procurement and plasma product safety in light of the COVID‐19 pandemic. The COVID‐19 pandemic impacted the whole world and, therefore, not unexpectedly, the pharmaceutical industry too. In spite of this, the plasma protein industry has continued to provide life saving therapies to critically ill patients. Moreover, companies have collected COVID convalescent plasma (CP) to support development of investigational therapies, for example, hyperimmune globulins to potentially treat SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, and collaborated with those collecting COVID CP for direct transfusion, which has been made available under emergency use in the United States. For plasma that is fractionated to become a therapy, general knowledge of coronaviruses and numerous new studies on the structure and function of SARS‐CoV‐2 provide reassurance that existing industry precautions, including donor selection, as well as virus inactivation and removal steps during the manufacturing process are sufficient to maintain the high standards of virus safety of plasma products. The pandemic also revealed the vulnerability and inadequacy of the current plasma ecosystem. There is a need for more plasma to be collected around the world to meet the growing need for safe and efficacious plasma‐derived therapies. This requires outdated regulatory and policy restrictions to be realigned with current scientific evidence. More countries around the world should be in a position to contribute to global supply of plasma so that patients with life‐threatening conditions ‐ and often no alternative therapeutic solutions ‐ have better access to care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter L Turecek
- Plasma-Derived Therapies R&D, Baxalta Innovations GmbH, part of Takeda, Vienna, Austria
| | - Deborah Hibbett
- Global Communications and Public Affairs, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Thomas R Kreil
- Global Pathogen Safety, Takeda Manufacturing Austria AG, Vienna, Austria
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