CADTH Weekly COVID-19 Update

CADTH is committed to supporting Canada’s health care decision-makers through this challenging and uncertain time.

Our COVID-19 evidence portal contains the latest COVID-19 information from CADTH and other respected organizations. Content is updated daily to reflect the rapidly changing and growing state of the international scientific evidence related to this disease.

The following is a summary of the most recent information posted to our COVID-19 portal.

Events

Webinar: Open Science — COVID-19 and Beyond: October 27, 2020

• Join us for a talk about the many scientific publishing shifts happening in connection with the pandemic.
• We’ll be discussing these changes and exploring their implications for access to scientific research and evidence synthesis.
• Speakers include Leslie Weir (Librarian and Archivist of Canada; Chair, Open Science Roadmap Advisory Committee) and Dr. Margaret Sampson (Manager of Library Services, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario).
• Please register to participate (there is no cost).

CADTH Virtual Symposium: November 9 to 10, 2020 — Call for Abstracts on COVID-19 Topics

You still have time to submit your abstracts on COVID-19 topics for presentation at the 2020 Virtual CADTH Symposium. Follow the details at the above link and submit your abstract by Wednesday, October 7, 2020.

Reports

Ongoing Trials of Plasma-Based Therapies for the Treatment of COVID-19

• This report provides information on ongoing randomized controlled trials of intravenous immune globulin and hyperimmune globulin that are being investigated for the management of COVID-19.
• It will be updated every month.
• Ongoing trials of convalescent plasma are addressed in separate CADTH reports.

Ongoing Trials for Drugs in the Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19

• This report provides information on ongoing randomized controlled trials of drugs being investigated to treat or prevent COVID-19.
• It will be updated every two weeks.
• Ongoing trials of vaccines and plasma-based therapies are addressed in separate CADTH reports.

Convalescent Plasma Therapy for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Review of Clinical Effectiveness

• Convalescent plasma therapy is an intervention where plasma is collected from recovered COVID-19 patients, in the hope that the disease-specific antibodies can help the recipient recover from COVID-19.
• Evidence on the effectiveness of convalescent plasma therapy for the treatment of COVID-19 is still in the early stages.
• This report summarizes the current evidence and it will be updated monthly as a living review.

Wearable Devices for Monitoring and Detecting COVID-19 Symptoms

• Wearable devices — such as watches, arm bands, and patches — may help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
• Wearable technologies could improve early symptom detection, especially through close monitoring of contacts.
• They may also safely monitor patients from a distance and limit health care worker exposure.
• This bulletin explores different wearable technologies in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Non-Invasive Ventilation With Helmets for Acute Respiratory Distress Due to COVID-19

• This Health Technology Update newsletter describes patient helmets, also known as helmet masks, and their potential use in COVID-19 infection control.
• These helmets are designed to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission from infected patients to health care providers and other patients.
• The newsletter provides a background to the technology, target populations, cost and availability, current clinical evidence, and potential implications for future research.
• This technology was identified through the CADTH Horizon Scanning Service as a topic of potential interest to health care decision-makers in Canada.

COVID-19 News

Visit our news page to stay on top of all of the emerging information we are monitoring and updating. Here’s the latest news:

COVID-19 Vaccines: Government of Canada Announcement

On September 25, 2020, the Government of Canada announced a new agreement to secure up to 20 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate AZD1222.

Remdesivir

CADTH recently updated a Health Technology Review on remdesivir, which includes an assessment of the results of the phase III randomized controlled trial, GS-US-540-5774.

CADTH Literature Searching Tools

To help conduct your COVID-19–related literature searches, see our COVID-19 Search Strings and our COVID-19 Grey Literature Resources.

Additional Resources

CADTH is pleased to showcase additional COVID-19 resources from our partner organizations, as well as from the Canadian federal, provincial, and territorial governments’ health jurisdictions:

• Pan-Canadian Health Organizations
• Federal, Provincial, and Territorial Information

CAN’T FIND WHAT YOU NEED? LET US KNOW

Canadian ministries and departments of health, publicly funded organizations responsible for health service delivery, and clinical society stakeholders are encouraged to submit a request or contact their CADTH Liaison Officer. We’re here to help.

The CADTH Weekly COVID-19 Update is intended to keep you informed about the latest information posted on the CADTH COVID-19 portal. You’re receiving this update because you’ve subscribed to our CADTH e-alert system.