Brazil to get the first Covid-19 data repository

The University of São Paulo and São Paulo’s Research Support Foundation (Fapesp) have just announced Brazil’s first data repository to demographic data and anonymous lab exams for Covid-19 patients, in an attempt to provide valuable information for researchers studying the disease. 

The initiative — called Covid-19 Data Sharing/BR — hosts data from 75,000 patients, 6,500 health outcomes and more than 1.6 million clinical and lab exams, collected since November 2019. Even though the first confirmed Covid-19 case in Brazil was registered in February, they aim to study the patients’ medical records, as well searching for symptoms of Covid-19 before the official start of the pandemic in the country, according to Fapesp. 

At first, the repository will host data such as patients’ gender, birth date, region where they live, as well as results for clinical and lab tests, plus information regarding hospitalizations, recovery, and death, when available. In the second phase, they aim to publish images of exams such as x-rays or CT scans. 

The repository is currently on trial, receiving feedback from scientists until June 24, and it will be available for free as of July 1. Medical institutions such as laboratory chain Fleury and São Paulo’s leading hospitals Sírio Libanês and Albert Einstein have provided the first data and will continue to supply the platform.

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