Economic Burden of Viral Acute Respiratory Infections in Upper-Middle-Income Countries: Protocol For A Systematic Review (preprint)

Objective: To synthesize the available data on the economic burden of Coronavirus Diseases 2019 (COVID-19), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Influenza-Like Illness (ILI), Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)-related Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI), and Parainfluenza Virus type III (PIV3)-related ARI in Upper-Middle-Income Countries (UMIC), highlighting its major causes and comparing direct costs among nations. Study design: Systematic review, following the recommendations proposed in the Cochrane Handbook, but with some adaptations from previous economic studies. Review question: Is there any economic cost of viral ARI in UMIC? Types of studies to be included: Partial economic evaluation, such as Cost-of-Illness (COI) studies and burden of illness/diseases, database analysis, observational reports (cross-sectional studies, and prospective and retrospective cohort), and economic modelling studies that discuss one of the viral ARI in UMIC. No year of publication filter or language limit will be applied. Search databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, CINAHL, EconLit, CRD Library, MedRxiv, and Research Square. Moreover, hand searches of the bibliographies of included studies and relevant reviews identified during the screening process will be undertaken to identify any additional relevant study for inclusion in our review. Synthesis of results: Qualitative analysis. We will focus on the overall economic burden of the diseases on health systems and population; total direct cost; the contribution of different cost components to the economic burden (e.g. pharmacological therapy, hospitalization); comparative assessments of costs analysis across geographical location and time horizon; and current research gaps. Moreover, we intend to identify, when presented, prevalence and incidence rates of each disease. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020225757.

PROGNOSTIC FACTORS FOR CLINICAL COURSE OF PATIENTS WITH COVID-19: PROTOCOL FOR A RAPID LIVING SYSTEMATIC REVIEW (preprint)

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Determining prognostic factors in a context of health crises such as the COVID-19 scenario may provide the best possible care for patients and optimize the management and the resource utilization of the health system. Thus, we aim to systematically review the prognostic factors for different outcomes of patients with COVID-19. DESIGN AND SETTING: Protocol for a rapid living systematic review methodology following the recommendations proposed by the Cochrane Handbook. METHODS: We will include prospective and retrospective longitudinal cohorts. In view of the limited amount of information, we will also include case-control studies. We will search PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), LILACS, Scopus and SciELO to identify published, ongoing, and unpublished studies. No language restrictions will be applied. We will perform the critical appraisal of included studies with the Quality in Prognosis Studies (QUIPS) tool and the certainty of evidence will be evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE).

COVID-19 AND PATIENTS UNDERGOING PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENTS FOR IMMUNE-MEDIATED INFLAMMATORY DISEASES: PROTOCOL FOR A RAPID LIVING SYSTEMATIC REVIEW (preprint)

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVEWe propose to systematically review the available evidence to evaluate if patients with immune mediated inflammatory diseases under pharmacological treatment with immunosuppressants, immunobiologics, Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DMARD) or targeted synthetic DMARDs have better or worse outcomes when infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). This study is a protocol for our rapid living systematic review. METHODS: Protocol for a rapid living systematic review methodology following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) guidance. To conduct the rapid systematic review, we will employ abbreviated systematic review methods, including: not performing independent screens of abstracts and not searching grey literature. As this will be a living review, it will be continuously updated.