Research component “Cluster-based Surveillance of SARS Cov-2 surveillance population of the Rhine-Neckar District”, Programme B-FAST Federal Research Network Applied

Location: Germany  |  Funded by: German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Key objective: The objective of this component was to develop, implement, and analyse strategies for active surveillance in the general population, using innovative solutions such as testing of saliva samples with the LAMP method, contact of a test subject and return of samples by mail, and self-collection of samples. Evaplan provided overall management of this research, titled “Cluster-based Surveillance of SARS Cov-2 surveillance population of the Rhine-Neckar District” or “virus finder study”.

Project description: Assessing and ensuring effective, but also proportionate, interventions in the Covid-19 pandemic was a top priority for the Network of Medical Universities (“Netzwerk Universitätsmedizin”), a network of the 36 University Hospitals of Germany. To control the pandemic in the long term and to manage new pandemics with the least possible socioeconomic consequences, the “B-FAST” (Nationwide Research Network Applied Surveillance and Testing ) research programme was implemented with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Education between September 2020 and April 2021. 26 Universities Hospitals were involved, and one of the research components, “Cluster-based Surveillance of SARS Cov-2 surveillance population of the Rhine-Neckar District”, or “virus-finder” study, was implemented by the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health.