UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 20 APRIL 2021
Birmingham residents who are especially vulnerable from Covid-19 are being encouraged to take part in a UK-wide public health trial to find an effective treatment to help prevent people with the disease being hospitalised.
Professor Mahendra Patel, Honorary Visiting Professor in Advancing Diabetes Care at Birmingham City University, is urging individuals in the high-risk Covid-19 category, including those from deprived areas, members of Black and ethnic minority communities, and people with learning difficulties, to sign up for the government-backed PRINCIPLE Trial being run by the University of Oxford.
Professor Patel is the Pharmacy and Ethnic Minorities Community Lead for the PRINCIPLE study, which is investigating whether antiviral, anti-inflammatory and other medicines currently used to treat conditions like influenza and gout can help people with Covid-19 symptoms get better quickly at home.
Birmingham is seen as a key city for the trial due to its 42 per cent Black and ethnic minority population, with six per cent identifying as Black in the last census. Studies have shown that Black and ethnic minority groups as well as those in poorer communities and people with learning difficulties are disproportionately impacted by the virus.
Professor Patel’s plea comes shortly after the comedian, actor and Birmingham City University Chancellor Sir Lenny Henry penned an open letter urging black Britons to take the Covid-19 vaccine.
Sir Lenny’s letter, signed by other high-profile figures including Westworld and Line of Duty star Thandie Newton, was published last month after figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed that vaccination rates among black Britons were considerably lower than among white Britons.
Professor Mahendra Patel, Honorary Visiting Professor in Advancing Diabetes Care at Birmingham City University, said:
"While the vaccine rollout is going well, treatments for Covid-19 that symptomatic people can take at home are currently limited to the over-50s. This trial is about finding better, more effective early treatments for all with Covid-19 in the home to shorten recovery time, the severity of symptoms and prevent the need for people having to go into hospital
“This could have a major impact in terms of treating people earlier and we need more people to take part in the trial, especially among those who we know are more likely to be adversely affected by Covid-19. That’s why we’re asking the people from Birmingham to come forward.as the city has a diverse ethnic community.
Interim results from the trial, which launched in April 2020, have revealed that inhaled budesonide commonly used in treating asthma could benefit many over-50s with early symptoms of Covid-19 and the NHS has said that the drug can now be prescribed by GPs to treat the condition on a case-by-case basis.
PRINCIPLE Trial Joint Chief Investigator, Professor Chris Butler, a GP and Professor of Primary Care at Oxford University, said:
Professor Mahendra Patel, Honorary Visiting Professor in Advancing Diabetes Care at Birmingham City University, said:
PRINCIPLE is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Department of Health and Social Care through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) as part of the UK Government’s rapid research response fund.
The PRINCIPLE Trial is aimed at UK citizens aged over 18 with Covid-19 symptoms or a positive test, those aged over 18 with underlying health conditions or anyone aged over 65. Participation is completely remote with no face-to-face visits required.
Anyone who fits the eligibility criteria and wants to take part in the trial can visit the PRINCIPLE Trial website, or telephone 0800 138 0880. Before access to the trial is granted everything is run by the participant’s GP and medication is then sent out to the participant at home, who is then supervised for 28 days.