Conducting Translational Gastrointestinal Research in the Era of COVID-19

Abstract Abstract Spread of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in a global pandemic that is affecting the health and economy of all World Health Organization [WHO] regions. Clinical and translational research activities have been affected drastically by this global catastrophe. In this document we provide a suggested roadmap for resuming gastrointestinal translational research activities, emphasising physical distancing and use of personal protective equipment. We discuss modes of virus transmission in enclosed environments [including clinical workplaces and laboratories] and potential risks of exposure in the endoscopy environment for research staff. The proposed guidelines should be considered in conjunction with local institutional and government guidelines so that translational research can be resumed as safely as possible.

[1]  S. Ng,et al.  COVID-19 Pandemic: Which IBD Patients Need to Be Scoped—Who Gets Scoped Now, Who Can Wait, and how to Resume to Normal , 2020, Journal of Crohn's & colitis.

[2]  L. Peyrin-Biroulet,et al.  Clinical Trials for Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Global Guidance During the COVID-19 Pandemic , 2020, Journal of Crohn's & colitis.

[3]  L. Peyrin-Biroulet,et al.  Clinical trials for inflammatory bowel disease: a global guidance during COVID-19 pandemic , 2020, Journal of Crohn's & colitis.

[4]  S. Ng,et al.  The day after COVID-19 in IBD: how to go back to ‘normal’ , 2020, Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology.

[5]  X. de Lamballerie,et al.  Evaluation of Chemical Protocols for Inactivating SARS-CoV-2 Infectious Samples , 2020, Viruses.

[6]  Lei Liu,et al.  The Time Sequences of Oral and Fecal Viral Shedding of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Patients , 2020, Gastroenterology.

[7]  D. Havlir,et al.  Asymptomatic Transmission, the Achilles’ Heel of Current Strategies to Control Covid-19 , 2020, The New England journal of medicine.

[8]  R. Panaccione,et al.  Endoscopy in inflammatory bowel diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic period , 2020, The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology.

[9]  X. de Lamballerie,et al.  Evaluation of heating and chemical protocols for inactivating SARS-CoV-2 , 2020, bioRxiv.

[10]  A. Tam,et al.  Gastrointestinal Manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Virus Load in Fecal Samples From a Hong Kong Cohort: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis , 2020, Gastroenterology.

[11]  S. Ng,et al.  Practice of endoscopy during COVID-19 pandemic: position statements of the Asian Pacific Society for Digestive Endoscopy (APSDE-COVID statements) , 2020, Gut.

[12]  H. Shan,et al.  Prolonged presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in faecal samples , 2020, The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology.

[13]  Dylan H. Morris,et al.  Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1 , 2020, The New England journal of medicine.

[14]  Oon Tek Ng,et al.  Air, Surface Environmental, and Personal Protective Equipment Contamination by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) From a Symptomatic Patient. , 2020, JAMA.

[15]  H. Rothan,et al.  The epidemiology and pathogenesis of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak , 2020, Journal of Autoimmunity.

[16]  H. Shan,et al.  Evidence for Gastrointestinal Infection of SARS-CoV-2 , 2020, Gastroenterology.

[17]  A Keith Dunker,et al.  Rigidity of the Outer Shell Predicted by a Protein Intrinsic Disorder Model Sheds Light on the COVID-19 (Wuhan-2019-nCoV) Infectivity , 2020, Biomolecules.

[18]  Su-Jin Park,et al.  Environmental Contamination and Viral Shedding in MERS Patients During MERS-CoV Outbreak in South Korea , 2015, Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

[19]  J. Taubenberger,et al.  1918 Influenza: the Mother of All Pandemics , 2006, Emerging infectious diseases.

[20]  K. Subbarao,et al.  Inactivation of the coronavirus that induces severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS-CoV , 2004, Journal of Virological Methods.

[21]  M. Bergeron,et al.  Sodium lauryl sulfate, a microbicide effective against enveloped and nonenveloped viruses. , 2002, Current drug targets.

[22]  J. Taubenberger,et al.  Influenza : the Mother of All Pandemics , 2022 .