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Active, Not Recruiting

NCT Number: NCT06739499

Bern, Get Ready (BEready) Cohort Study for Pandemic Preparedness

The BEready project aims to find out how people in the Canton of Bern can be helped to be more prepared for the next pandemic. BEready wants to understand how infections spread among people as well as between people and animals. BEready wants to find out how social and environmental factors can influence the transmission or catching of infectious diseases. BEready wants to better understand how households and their pets in the Canton of Bern were and continue to be affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Active, Not Recruiting

This study is active but is not currently recruiting participants.

Key information

Conditions

Pandemic, COVID-19 Animal Diseases COVID-19 Coronaviridae Infections Coronavirus Infections Epidemic Disease Infections Lung Diseases Nidovirales Infections Pneumonia Pneumonia, Viral RNA Virus Infections Respiratory Tract Diseases Respiratory Tract Infections Virus Diseases Zoonoses

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

University of Bern

Bern, 3012, Switzerland

About this study

The overall aim is to establish BEready as a 'pandemic preparedness cohort', a cohort with a well-characterised study population of households, which has an infrastructure to conduct studies about infectious diseases, and which can be rapidly mobilised to respond to a new pandemic. BEready aims to understand the epidemiology and transmission of infectious diseases (particularly viral respiratory pathogens) in households including pets in the canton of Bern, and to engage diverse communities in efforts to strengthen pandemic preparedness.

The objectives are:

  • to study the distribution and timing of infectious diseases and transmission patterns of circulating infectious diseases, both between individuals and at the human-animal interface (One Health)
  • to study social (e.g. gender, affective polarisation) and environmental factors (e.g. climate change), which may affect transmission or acquisition of infectious diseases;
  • to understand how households, including their pets, in the canton of Bern have been and will be affected by COVID-19; and
  • to engage diverse communities in ongoing efforts to strengthen pandemic and public health literacy, and to prepare for the public health response to a new pandemic.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

for adults and children:

  • Informed consent
  • Residence (average of more than 3 days/week) in a private household in the canton of Bern where at least one member aged 18 agreed to take part.
  • For adults, children aged 14 years or older, and parents/legal guardians: internet connection (Wi-Fi, fixed or on a mobile phone) and personal email address.
  • For adults, children aged 11 years or older, and parents/legal guardians: able to understand, speak, read and write German, French and/or English.

Inclusion criteria

for household pets: Pets of eligible household members with the consent of their owners.

Exclusion criteria

for adults and children: Currently planned move outside the canton of Bern

Treatment and study plan

Primary outcomes

  1. Response rate among the randomly sampled participants

    Time frame: Baseline

    Percentage agreeing to take part, divided by the number invited, by age and sex (study level)

  2. Attendance of follow up visits (to derive factors associated with research participation)

    Time frame: At every annual follow-up for up to 100 years

    Percentage of completed questionnaire (study level)

  3. Incidence of respiratory virus detection in symptomatic persons

    Time frame: At the end of a 12 months period

    Test positivity: percentage of nasal swab samples with a positive result for specific respiratory viruses among all viruses detected amongst those reporting disease events cumulatively by the end of one year; incidence rate for any detected virus and for specific viruses: number of nasal swab samples with a positive result per 100 person years of follow-up (individual level, infection-related)

  4. Seroprevalence of antibodies to respiratory viruses

    Time frame: At baseline and annually thereafter for up to 100 years

    Proportion of serum samples with antibodies to specific respiratory viruses (individual level, infection-related)

  5. Incidence of co-infection/co-colonisation at the pet/owner interface

    Time frame: Throughout follow-up for up to 100 years

    Proportion of serum samples with antibodies to specific parasites (individual level, infection-related)

  6. Incidence of animal diseases diagnosed through syndromic surveillance

    Time frame: Throughout follow-up for up to 100 years

    Based on each case definition, e.g. febrile illness, incidence of syndromic diagnoses by month (individual level, infection-related)

  7. Prevalence of post-acute viral symptoms

    Time frame: At baseline and annually thereafter for up to 100 years

    Individual level, infection-related

  8. Gender roles

    Time frame: At all timepoints for up to 100 years

    Gender is a cross-cutting theme. Associations with gender measured by questionnaire will be examined for all endpoints (individual level, personal, social, demographic).

  9. Number of daily social contacts

    Time frame: At baseline and annually thereafter for up to 100 years

    Numbers of social contacts between humans, according to age group and location (individual level, personal, social, demographic)

  10. Affective polarisation

    Time frame: At baseline

    Mean and standard deviation of Likert scale scores (individual level, personal, social, demographic)

  11. Knowledge of pandemic preparedness

    Time frame: At baseline

    Knowledge measured by questionnaire. Summary of the survey data (individual level, personal, social, demographic)

  12. Knowledge of vector-borne diseases

    Time frame: At baseline

    Knowledge measured by questionnaire. Summary of the survey data (individual level, personal, social, demographic)

  13. Experienced marginalisation

    Time frame: At baseline

    Experience measured by questionnaire. Summary of the survey data (individual level, personal, social, demographic)

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Bern

Other

Collaborators

  • Stiftung Vinetum

Registry information

Official study title

Bern, Get Ready (BEready) Population-based Cohort Study for Pandemic Preparedness: Main Study

Acronym: BEready

Important dates

Study start
2024
Primary completion
2100
Study completion
2100
First posted
Dec 18, 2024
Registry last updated
Feb 5, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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