Brazil’s Covid-19 data repository ready to go

Covid-19 Data Sharing/BR, the first Brazilian public database with clinical information from coronavirus patients, has moved beyond its beta phase and is now in full operation, as announced by Fapesp, one of the research foundations responsible for the project.

The initiative was launched in June to provide scientists with free access to demographic and clinical information from patients hospitalized at São Paulo’s leading hospitals Sírio Libanês and Albert Einstein, including lab results from all over the country processed by Fleury Group. It now hosts 5 million lab results from 177,000 patients, which may grow as the project intends to include imaging results in its second phase. 

As of June, the database was opened to feedback from the scientific community, which will be analyzed and implemented when possible, says Fapesp. Besides Brazilians scientists, teams from countries such as the U.S., Portugal, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Argentina, Romania, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, India, Canada, France, Finland, and Thailand have accessed the material.

While similar data-sharing initiatives are popping up around the world, the fact that Covid-19 Data Sharing/BR provides real-life patient data may prove helpful for vaccine and treatment studies around the world. “Much of the data inserted on international platforms are from clinical trials, not clinical and lab tests as [is the case with] Covid-19 Data Sharing/BR,” said Unicamp’s Computing Institute professor Claudia Medeiros, who is involved at the project.

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