The first publication from Duke CTSI's COVID research study based at Duke Kannapolis appears in the July 31 special issue of Diagnostics, an open access journal by MDPI. The article summarizes a pilot study with a sub-group of 100 participants in the MURDOCK Cabarrus County COVID-19 Prevalence and Immunity (C3PI) Study.
The pilot evaluated a medical device that allows participants to attempt to collect their own capillary blood sample for COVID-19 antibody testing. In a comparison of blood samples self-collected by participants and collected by study staff, the differences in antibody test results were not significant, indicating that the assay sensitivity using the device specimen was equivalent to that using routine phlebotomy.
A partnership with the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, C3PI followed the health and well-being of more than 1,400 participants for nearly 18 months to examine how the pandemic affected them and their households and to understand COVID-19 prevalence and immunity in the community and monitor the disease over time.
The journal article reflects the deep collaboration of C3PI, with co-authors representing the Duke Global Health Institute, Duke Clinical Research Institute, Duke Human Vaccine Institute, Center for Applied Genomics and Precision Medicine, and multiple departments in addition to CTSI. The C3PI study was led by PI L. Kristin Newby, MD, MHS, and co-PI Chris Woods, MD, MPH.