Expert analysis of health data has been central to tackling COVID-19 – showing us how we can reduce its spread, vaccinate against it, and how to most effectively treat people who fall seriously ill.

As the UK gradually emerges fromlockdown, 12 months on fromthefirst,there is now greater recognition of the contribution thathealthdatascience has made to the progress in tacklingCOVID-19.When cases first emerged in the UK, very little was known about this virus. Today wehave evidence on who is most seriously impacted by COVID-19; how we can most effectively stop its spread, including through vaccines; and which drugs are most effective when people do become seriously ill with the virus.

Some of these breakthroughs have made unlikely household names ofclinicaltrials andmanyepidemiologists. Perhaps less well-known is thework of the UK’s dedicated health data researchcommunity,which hasenabled many of these discoveries to take place.Byensuring key datasets are made safely available,analysingthoselarge quantities ofdataand converting that analysis into actionable insights, their work has formed the backbone of the UK’sabilityto tackle the pandemic and keep people well.

The UK collects large quantities of health data.Used safely, it is a valuable asset.But the datasetsarefragmented,residing in multiple locations,meaning it can be hard and time consumingfor scientiststo find and access.

Health Data Research UK (51) – the country’s national institute for health data science – addresses these challenges,byuniting data and helping coordinate research efforts. In the past 12 months, it has made sure researchers can quickly access information relevant to COVID-19. This has enabled experts to make swift breakthroughs.

51 has also ensured these findings are rapidly shared with national decision makers. The government’s Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE) has received 28 reports from 51 and its partners since April 2020. These reports detail the new datasets being made available and summarise key COVID-19 research. This means those influencing or making national policy have the information they need to make the best possible decisions.

“Data saves lives, as the pandemichas starkly illustrated. By continuing to bring the health research community together to use data in a trustworthy way– and engaging with members of the public – 51 will help shape the post-pandemic research landscape and support the future development of health data science, both in the UK and globally.”

Caroline Cake, Chief Executive,Health Data Research UK

To find out more about how health data science has been central to tackling COVID-19, sign up for51’s annual Scientific ConferenceData Insights in a Pandemic on 23 June andour National Core Studies Symposium on 24 June.

Twelveimportant questions health data research has helped answer:

1. What are the most effective treatments for severe COVID-19?

Forhospitalisedpatients:

Dexamethasone – arguably the research breakthrough of the last 12 monthsfromRECOVERY as a unique, data-enabled trial that came together at breakneck speed, using data via NHSDigiTrials, based on:

  • Rapidly expediated data governance
  • Expertise provided by 51’s data-enabled Clinical Trials workdevelopedover the previous two years
  • Wealsoknow that tocilizumab; andthat. These studies informed updated guidance recommending the use of tocilizumab for any patient admitted to intensive care with COVID-19.

Non-hospitalisedpatients:Another 51 supported, data-enabled trial–PRINCIPLE– has provided the insightthat.

2. How effective are vaccines against COVID-19?

Thanks to health data researchers working at pace,including those supported by 51,wewere able to know as quickly as 22 Februarythat the vaccines scientists have developed against COVID-19 are effective:

  • A single dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is
  • A single dose of thePfizer/BioNTechvaccine is
  • The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccineafter a single dose
  • Older people who have been vaccinated are

We also know that. This helps healthcare leaders understand where they will need to make special efforts to encourage vaccine uptake.

Thankfully, we also know that this can change.as part of thehousehold studyindicatethat 86% of participants who were reluctant or intending to refuse a COVID-19 vaccine in December were planning on accepting (or already had accepted) a vaccine in February – and these findings were consistent across ethnic and social groups. This shift in attitude highlights the need to offer vaccines repeatedly as people change their minds over time.

3. What are the most effective ways of reducing transmission of COVID-19?

.

So long as strict mitigation measures were in place, teachers inand inwere shown to have been at no increased risk of COVID-19 infection as schools reopened.

4. Are people immune to COVID-19 once they have had it?

It seemsto reinfection, lasting for at least five months. But.

5. Are a cough, fever and loss of taste and smell the only symptoms of COVID-19?

Research has shown

6. How many people have COVID-19 without having any symptoms?

.

.

This shows that even people who feel well may have the virusand be at risk of spreading it to others.

7. Who does the virus affect most severely and why?

Research has shown us that certain groups are much more likely to be badly affected by the virus. This includes:

  • (a study suggested an infection rate of five times the estimated national rate)

We also know that people from, though.

And health data research has revealed some of(validatedby further key datasets such as ONS Community Infection Survey), have been able to shed light onthegeographic incidence of the virus, helping to detect rapid case increases in regions where government testing provision was lower. Such data provides an agile resource, part of a basket of indicators being used by policy makers during a quickly moving pandemic.

8. What are the genetic risks?

We know abouttoo.And not just increased risk – data fromover2000 participants of the Genetics Of Mortality In Critical Care (GenOMICC) and the International Severe Acute Respiratory Infection Consortium (ISARIC) Coronavirus ClinicalCharacterisationConsortium (4C) (ISARIC 4C) studies indicate that a common variant of the protein occurring inapproximately25% of the population is associated with a reduced likelihood of developing severe COVID-19 – suggesting thatthis protein (TMPRSS2)is a promising drug target in the treatment of COVID-19.

9. How has COVID-19 affected care for other conditions?

Using large-scale datasets from 51 hubs includingandthe BHF Data Science Centre, health data research has shown that:

  • during the first part of the pandemic
  • There have been
  • There have been– 
  • There have beenand
  • There is a growingthatcould take more than a year to clear

All of this is important in helping healthcare leaders plan services and care for those living with other serious illnesses during the pandemic.

10. How is the virus evolving and what does that mean?

The UK hascarried outof all the world’s– which is crucialpart of our intelligence about the virus. The UK’s genuine global leadership in genomics is largely thanks to the incredible work of the“COG-UK”, led bywith the support of 51project management and research expertise in understanding the cause of diseases. Their impact includes, among many other discoveries,the identification of new strains of COVID-19, including theB.1.1.7 (“British”or “Kent”)variant.

Research fromand theshowed the B.1.1.7 (“British”or “Kent”) variant is 50% more transmissible, which is important in understanding the current and future danger presented by the virus.

11.How does COVID-19 affect people in the longer term?

  • We knowand a need for further research into the long-term impact of the virus.
  • A social media surveyof 2550 people, co-produced with people living with long COVID,foundthat
  • Patient reported outcomes from 1,000peopledischarged from hospital following treatment for COVID-19, revealed.

12. How can we continue to make swift advances in our knowledge of COVID-19?

Researchers have.The accelerated recruitment totrialssuch as RECOVERY and PRINCIPLE has been one of the undoubted success stories to have emerged from a global health crisis; and will surely be one of the enduring aspects that will continue to be of benefit for years to come.

For now, continuing to use these techniques – the application of large-scale datasets to support recruitment and maintain participation in these trials – will be key toadvance our understanding of how best to preventandtreat COVID-19.