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Frequently asked questions about STRAVINSKY

Here are the answers to some commonly asked questions from people who are taking part in or considering taking part in the STRAVINSKY study.  If you have a question that is not included here, please email our study team at stravinsky@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

Why do we undertake COVID swab testing as part of STRAVINSKY?

As part of the STRAVINSKY study, following your report of a positive COVID test, we take fortnightly swabs until there are two negative tests in a row. The reasons we do this is to see whether it takes longer for immune vulnerable patients to clear the virus than for those with a healthy immune system; we can also examine the virus on the swab through viral genetic testing to determine whether it changes over time if a participant has repeated positive COVID swab tests. 

How many samples will I provide whilst in the study?

As part of the study, we will ask you to undertake testing at up to four timepoints (either as a finger prick at home, or as a blood draw during a face-to-face appointment at your local hospital dependant on your chosen pathway). These tests will be taken at various timepoints which are related to when routine vaccines are given; so just before vaccination and then 28-days or 6-months after.  If you are having six monthly vaccinations, the just before and 6-month timepoint will be the same.  

You do not have to take up vaccines to be part of this study. We will just adjust the time points to be matched to vaccines that are being given to other participants.  

The tests will be sent to you automatically if you are participating remotely, or your local team will arrange a face-to-face appointment for you. You will receive an email when the kit has been posted to your address and you will receive the results via email and text message (these can take up to eight weeks to process). 

What does my COVID-19 antibody result mean?

Visit our dedicated page to find out more information about what COVID-19 antibody results mean for individuals. 

What does it mean if my COVID swab remains positive after infection?

It is not always clear why someone is positive for a long time but here are two possibilities: 

One possibility is that the virus is not multiplying but bits of the virus are simply remaining in the nose and back of the throat and will be cleared with time. If this is the case it is likely that you will be feeling better from your infection. As the virus is not multiplying, it cannot spread to other people and will clear naturally.  

A rarer alternative explanation is that the virus is continuing to grow and is causing an ongoing infection. If this is the case, it is possible that you don’t feel well and are still suffering from ongoing symptoms since you were diagnosed with COVID. If this happens, please discuss this with your GP or specialist doctors as you may need further treatment to try and clear the infection. These are extremely rare cases, and treatment has to be decided on a case-by-case basis and so specialist advice may need to be sought. It is not clear in these cases whether someone is still able to spread the virus.  

What do I do if I am a participant in STRAVINSKY and catch COVID-19?

If you test positive to COVID-19, either on lateral flow device or swab, please contact your local team/study nurse, or the main study team (stravinsky@contacts.bham.ac.uk) and they will arrange for swabbing kits to be sent to you at your home address. If you are eligible for anti-viral treatments please contact 111, your GP or specialist team to arrange this as soon as possible as treatments work best within 5 days of developing symptoms.  

What is the difference between remote visits and face to face appointments? Can I choose?

Most of the 3,000 participants of STRAVINSKY are taking part in the study remotely. However, we are asking 400 individuals based in Birmingham, Imperial (London), Oxford and Southampton to attend face to face appointments to allow us to get blood, saliva and nasal samples from them. These additional samples will help us to explore whether other immune tests (such as T-cell testing) may be required to predict risk of COVID-19 infection. If you are based in one of these four sites, you will be able to choose which type of visit you would like but recruitment to the face to face element of the study will close quickest as it is a smaller group. 

Watch our video to find out more information about the differences between in person and remote participation in the study. 

How do I contact the study team?

If you have any questions or problems about the study, you can contact your local team using the details in your patient information leaflet – on the last page there are contact details for your local team and the main study team. If you wish to contact the central study team, please email us on stravinsky@contacts.bham.ac.uk.
 

How do I get help in performing the Dried Blood Spot (DBS) sample?

As well as the information sheet that is sent to you along with the sampling kit, we also have a video you can watch, which explains in detail how to perform a dried blood spot test.