25/11/2020 combacte-cdi News Item

Performing Feasibility for COMBACTE-CDI

COMBACTE's LAB-Net (laboratory network) team based at the University of Antwerp, performed the feasibility for COMBACTE-CDI. LAB-Net sent out the COMBACTE-CDI microbiology questionnaires to the sites which were being selected for participation in the project. The aim of this questionnaire was to understand the framework around participant laboratories’ current practices that led to samples being tested and how the patients who were CDI positive will be managed.

The questionnaire was built by the different Work Packages (WPs) involved and coordinated by the University of Leeds and LAB-Net. LAB-Net rolled out the questionnaire and was following up until completion of feasibility.

Site contact details were added to the adapted network management system (NMS), which was already established as part of COMBACTE-NET, COMBACTE-CARE and COMBACTE-MAGNET, thus the network grew with around 90 members. The NMS was then used to send out the invitations for completion of the COMBACTE-CDI WP2 survey.

COMBACTE-CDI (C. difficile infection) is the merger of European expertise on clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic CDI issues and the expertise and input of 7 EFPIA partners. It brings together experts from CDI projects (EUCLID, ECDIS-NET), the largest existing (IMI-funded) clinical and laboratory network in Europe (CLIN-Net and LAB-Net), and a network that maps all surveillance activities related to AMR in Europe (EPI-Net, also IMI-funded).

COMBACTE-CDI, therefore, maximizes the integration of previously initiated collaborations within Europe to develop a detailed understanding of CDI burden, transmission, and control practices in Europe.

In WP3, COMBACTE CDI aimed to set up an EU research platform that will provide research support for the studies in WP1 and WP2 and for potential proof-of-concept studies of new prevention and treatment strategies.

COMBACTE-CDI will have major impacts on European citizens' health, and will significantly increase knowledge and expertise on CDI, as well as providing a research platform to enable future clinical trials of novel CDI diagnostics, therapeutics and preventative options.

LAB-Net Team

LAB-Net has collaborated with University of Leeds, University of Cologne, INMI Lazzaro Spallanzani, Leiden University Medical Center, ECDIS-net, EUCLID 2 networks, EPI-Net and CLIN-Net in defining the potential site list and feasibility realization.

The synergies with the other COMBACTE projects (COMBACTE-NET, COMBACTE-MAGNET and COMBACTE-CARE) have been maximized during the course of the project and it is clear that these synergies contributed to successful achievements of objectives of COMBACTE-CDI.