Studying the effects of COVID-19 and vaccination in people with Parkinson’s disease
The National Centre of Excellence in Research on Parkinson’s Disease (NCER-PD) has become part of a European consortium called ORCHESTRA. A new study carried out within this consortium will assess the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and monitor participants post-vaccination in Luxembourg. The goal of the study is to investigate if and how the immune system reacts to vaccination over a longer period of time in people with Parkinson’s Disease (PD).
Therefore, we are recruiting up to 150 people with PD that have already been vaccinated. By collecting biological samples, we will examine microbiological and immunological aspects. In addition, we will study the long-term effects of the COVID-19 disease on epidemiological, socioeconomic, and psychological aspects and compare this information with several cohorts across the European Union.
The ORCHESTRA-Luxembourg cohort is formed as a subgroup of the Luxembourg Parkinson’s Study. Interested participants can join the study by emailing: orchestra.luxembourg [at] lih.lu
An international study
ORCHESTRA is a three-year international research project led by the University of Verona (Italy) and involving partners from 15 countries around the world: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Congo, France, Gabon, Germany, India, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, and Venezuela. The project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme to generate scientific evidence to improve prevention, protection and treatment of COVID-19 and be better prepared for future pandemics.
What is COVID-19?
COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). This virus and disease were unknown before their appearance in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Due to the rapid virus spread worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern on January 30th, 2020. Until July 2021, the illness has affected over 180 million people globally and claimed more than 4 million lives worldwide.