About the project
The task of B-FAST (Nationwide research network for applied surveillance and testing) was to develop suitable methods of testing, monitoring and control ("surveillance") to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and to test them in practice. To this end, scientists from 26 university hospitals and around 50 other partners from research and the public health sector have joined forces in B-FAST. Experts from the fields of bioinformatics, statistics, virology, immunology, hospital hygiene, infectiology, medical informatics and health science worked together on the project.
The consortium was strengthened by co-operation partners from other specialist areas such as fluid physics, applied computer science and economics. This cooperation took place on several levels: on the one hand within the individual work packages, on the other hand between the various work areas (testing, surveillance, application) and with other NUM subject areas (pandemic management, cohorts, COVIM and Organo-Strat).
The aim of B-FAST was to establish efficient structures and processes through cross-institutional collaboration between scientists in order to develop bestpractices for surveillance and testing strategies in a wide range of application areas. These structures had to be able to react dynamically to changes in the pandemic and make a sustainable contribution to pandemic preparedness.
A sustainable surveillance and testing strategy for various areas of application was developed, tested and validated, which enables the following:
- Good knowledge of the incidence of infection in general and in areas of particular social relevance for the incidence of infection, such as retirement homes, clinics, schools and daycare centres, etc.
- Early detection of new infections and sources of infection
- Validation of test procedures and evaluation of the most suitable areas of application for various test procedures
- Creation of concepts for the detection of infectious persons in various living situations such as work environments, retirement homes, childcare centres, clinics, precarious living situations, etc.
- Evaluation of IT support for some testing and surveillance concepts, e.g. to predict the probability of a positive test, to quickly visualise a contact network in the case of unexpectedly positive patients and to assess the risk of infection indoors
- Establishment of testing and surveillance concepts to protect particularly vulnerable groups of people
Dealing with problems that arose during project implementation was particularly challenging during the project period, especially due to the measures implemented as a result of the pandemic or the measures implemented politically to control the pandemic (e.g. lockdown, closure of schools, ban on major events, etc.). This required the restructuring of individual sub-projects without having to deviate from the basic objectives and projects.
A further challenge developed in response to the spread of new virus variants, in which the B-FAST project was successfully expanded to include the molecular surveillance work package. This work package was so successful that the infrastructure initiated here has already been stabilised. Recommendations for action were developed throughout the project (e.g. on the use of test procedures) and made available to the public.
The task of B-FAST was to develop suitable methods of testing and surveillance to cope with the current pandemic and to test them in practice, as well as to establish infrastructures that enable the sustainable networking of university partners from various disciplines such as virology, microbiology, infection prevention, hygiene, infectiology, epidemiology, public health and other clinical disciplines. To this end, scientists from 26 university hospitals and around 50 other partners from research and the public health sector have joined forces in B-FAST.These include scientific institutions such as the RKI, the HZI Braunschweig and the MPI Göttingen. On the other hand, close collaboration with local health authorities is also a key factor for the adequate implementation of testing and surveillance concepts.
The successful implementation of such a comprehensive work plan required a well-structured project management consisting of the steering committee, the steering group and the seven working groups. This structure proved its worth in the management of a highly complex network with a wide range of topics.
The work in B-FAST covered a broad spectrum: on the one hand, test methods were trialled and further developed, and surveillance methods and tools were developed and evaluated. For particularly relevant areas such as schools and day-care centres, hospitals and various risk areas such as retirement homes, the work situation, cultural events, living situations and others, test and surveillance strategies were developed, tested and evaluated directly and as models. Another focus was on the application to the population as a whole. These very practical applications were supplemented by measurements and analyses of aerosol transmission, which can be universally applied to all areas of application. By establishing a clear, transparent and stringent management structure, the diverse and complex project plans of a large number of scientists could be processed and the work plans almost completely fulfilled. Regular work meetings with the project managers ensured a mutual exchange of information and enabled a rapid response to the constant new challenges arising during the pandemic. In terms of content, B-FAST encompassed a wide range of projects on the topics of surveillance and testing, which were divided into different work packages: Testing Methods, Surveillance Management & Tools, Population, Schools and KiTas, Risk Areas, Clinics and Molecular Genetic Surveillance. In all work packages, not only were the set goals almost completely achieved. In fact, numerous socially relevant results were achieved during the project period, some of which found direct practical application while the project was still running.
Highlights
Establishment of infrastructures
The networks created in the project were incorporated and further developed in follow-up projects such as PREPARED, GenSurv, MolTraX and CODEX+. These collaborations have also been used to implement research collaborations beyond B-FAST, and collaborations with scientific institutions such as RKI, HZI Braunschweig and MPI Göttingen that go beyond the NUM have already been consolidated. These collaborations and intensified cooperation with local health authorities will be a prerequisite for the adequate implementation of testing and surveillance concepts in a pandemic and beyond.
For the NUM funding period 2022, the previous projects egePan Unimed, B-Fast and CeoSys were jointly called upon to develop an overarching overall "Pandemic Preparedness" concept with all university hospitals in the NUM network, building on project results from the first funding phase. In this application, which was coordinated by Prof Scheithauer (B-FAST) and Prof Schmitt (egePan Unimed), central components from B-FAST such as "Concepts for risk-based and population-representative surveillance" and "Established and tested best-practice concepts for hospital surveillance" were incorporated into the follow-up application. The project entitled "PREPARED" started on 1 September 2022. Furthermore, the infrastructure from one work package has been incorporated into the NUM sub-project of the second funding period GenSurV and started on 1 January 2022 with a three-year project duration. Another extension project (MolTraX) is dedicated to the increased involvement of the public health service and began in 2022 with a project duration of one year.
Other highlights of the project included the publication of public statements and presentations of results at the Conference of Education Ministers. Furthermore, event-related public relations work was carried out in the form of a quick survey for the state government of Lower Saxony commissioned by Minister President S. Weil.
In total, B-FAST has produced over 100 publications.