Medical workers move a COVID-19 patient at the Seoul Medical Center in central Seoul on March 25, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 4 (Korea Bizwire) – The government has decided to follow 10,000 people for the next three years to track down the source of so-called ‘Long COVID’ or the side effects caused by COVID-19.
The National Institute of Health recently began receiving applications for the new R&D project that will study the side effects of COVID-19.
The study will focus on three major areas: ‘clinical study of the patterns of the side effects of COVID-19 and the establishment of relevant guidelines’, ‘big data-based study on the side effects’ and the ‘translational research on the side effects of COVID-19’.
The first phase of the project will run for five months, and the second to fourth phases will take place over a 12-month period.
The clinical study will designate 10,000 COVID-19 patients, including children, as subjects, which the research team will observe for up to three years to learn about the side effects of the pandemic.
Through the study, the research team aims to analyze the patterns of the side effects and discover the risk factors that are responsible for the side effects.
The team will then set up guidelines for the management of the side effects and use them for the prevention of other pandemics in the future.
The big data study will focus on setting up a database to store and index all clinical and translational data on the study of Long COVID and develop platforms to analyze the patterns of side effects.
In the translational study, the research team will track down the source of the side effects by looking into fundamental science, including molecular biology and immunology.
The government will invest 10.3 billion won (US$7.93 million) in clinical studies, 2.1 billion won in big data studies and 9.3 billion won in translational studies in the next four years.
The institute will accept applications from research agencies until July 11, complete assessment and review, and begin research in late August.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
