The Viral Infection and Respiratory Illness Universal Study (VIRUS): An International Registry of Coronavirus 2019-Related Critical Illness

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has disproportionally strained intensive care services worldwide. Large areas of uncertainly regarding epidemiology, physiology, practice patterns, and resource demands for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 require rapid collection and dissemination of data. We describe the conception and implementation of an intensive care database rapidly developed and designed to meet data analytic needs in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic-the multicenter, international Society of Critical Care Medicine Discovery Network Viral Infection and Respiratory Illness Universal Study.

Design: Prospective cohort study and disease registry.

Setting: Multinational cohort of ICUs.

Patients: Critically ill patients with a diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019.

Interventions: None.

Measurements and main results: Within 2 weeks of conception of the Society of Critical Care Medicine Discovery Network Viral Infection and Respiratory Illness Universal Study, study leadership was convened, registry case report forms were designed, electronic data entry set up, and more than 250 centers had submitted the protocol for institutional review board approval, with more than 100 cases entered.

Conclusions: The Society of Critical Care Medicine Discovery Network Viral Infection and Respiratory Illness Universal Study provides an example of a rapidly deployed, international, pandemic registry that seeks to provide near real-time analytics and information regarding intensive care treatments and outcomes for patients with coronavirus disease 2019.

Keywords: coronavirus disease 2019; registry.

Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Harhay is partially supported by National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute grant R00 HL141678. The remaining authors have disclosed that they do not have any potential conflicts of interest.

Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

Figures

Figure 1.

Timeline of Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) Discovery Viral Infection and Respiratory Illness Universal Study (VIRUS) Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) database design and development. CRF = case report form, FAQ = frequently asked question, IRB = institutional review board, REDCaP = Research Electronic Data Capture, SOP = standard operating procedure.

Figure 2.

Overview of data collection for Society of Critical Care Medicine Discovery Viral Infection and Respiratory Illness Universal Study Coronavirus Disease 2019 database. APACHE = Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation, ECG = electrocardiogram, MV = mechanical ventilation, SOFA = Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, USG = Ultrasonography, VAP = ventilator-associated pneumonia.