Clinical Research Directory

Impact of a Multiplex Respiratory PCR Test on Outcomes for Patients Presenting With Respiratory Illness in the Urgent Care Setting: A Hybrid-Effectiveness Quasi-Experimental Trial

This research study will use a hybrid effectiveness-implementation type 1 design to assess effectiveness of the Spotfire R/ST assay in the urgent care setting. A hybrid effectiveness-implementation type 1 study primarily focuses on the effectiveness of an intervention (e.g., use of Spotfire R/ST) but also simultaneously allows for the collection of data on the barriers and facilitators of implementing the Spotfire R/ST test in the real-world urgent care setting.

Adaptive Platform Trial of Treatments for Respiratory Infections in Community Settings (TreatResp)

TreatResp is a double-blind, individually randomized, multi-centre adaptive platform trial. TreatResp aims to establish an adaptive platform trial aimed at evaluating the clinical- and cost-effectiveness, practical challenges, and outcomes of therapeutics for respiratory pathogens in non-hospitalized patients. Participants will be randomized to receive usual care (i.e., supportive care and symptom relief) or a study therapeutic, which will be determined by the TreatResp Therapeutics Committee. The primary outcomes being evaluated is time to recovery.

FebriDx® Pediatric Validation Study

The primary objective of this study is to determine performance characteristics of the FebriDx® test in differentiating bacterial from non-bacterial etiology among febrile pediatric patients (2-11 years) presenting to the emergency department, urgent care center or primary care office with a suspected acute respiratory tract infection.

RSV in Acute Respiratory Infection Surveillance Among Community-Dwelling Elderly Aged ≥50 Years in China

This is a multicenter, prospective, observational, community-based study designed to evaluate the incidence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection among community-dwelling elderly individuals in China, as well as their cohabiting older adults and children, over a 24-month period. During the study, home visits will be conducted to collect nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs from all community residents aged ≥50 years who report symptoms of acute respiratory infection (ARI). Pathogen detection will be performed using both point-of-care testing (POCT) and centralized laboratory analysis.

Routine Application of Point-of-care PCR Test to Identify and Direct Therapy for Acute Respiratory Infection in the Emergency Department Trial

The RAPID-ARIED Trial is a pragmatic, single-centre, parallel group, open-label, randomised controlled trial to be conducted in the Accident and Emergency Department of Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong. The investigators aim to 1) to evaluate the clinical impact of the routine application of point-of-care polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for targeted respiratory pathogens in the emergency department (ED) for adult patients with acute respiratory infections (ARIs) on the hospital length of stay (LOS), antiviral and antibiotic use during influenza seasons or future waves of COVID-19; and 2) to conduct a health economic analysis of such a strategy. The investigators hypothesise that in adult patients hospitalised from the ED for ARIs during influenza seasons or COVID-19 waves, routine point-of-care PCR test for influenza A\&B, SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory syncytial virus in the ED reduces the hospital LOS significantly and cost effectively compared to usual care. In total, 1,050 adult patients who are intended to be admitted to hospital with ARIs in the ED will be recruited during influenza seasons or future waves of COVID-19 over 36 months from 2025 to 2027. Participants will be randomised (1:1 ratio) into the interventional group and control group. A nasal swab will be collected. In the intervention group, research staff will perform PCR test using the GeneXpert® Xpress PCR kit in the ED and communicate the test results to the patient and the clinical team. In the control group, all microbiology tests will be determined by the clinical team, with retrospective PCR testing of the nasal swab sample after 28 days. The primary outcome is the median hospital LOS. Secondary outcomes include antivirals and antibiotics use and administration time, mortality, and quality-adjusted life year, assessed using the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire. Intention-to-treat analysis (superiority framework) and cost-effectiveness analysis (from healthcare provider perspective) will be conducted. Study results will provide evidence regarding the optimal PCR testing strategy in the future influenza seasons and COVID-19 waves.