Webchat with Professor Tim Spector, the lead researcher behind the ZOE COVID Symptom Study app, on Wednesday at 2pm

[BojanaMumsnet]

Hello

We’re pleased to announce a webchat with Professor Tim Spector, the lead researcher behind the ZOE COVID Symptom Study app, on Wednesday 2 December at 2pm.

Professor Tim Spector OBE is a Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King's College London and honorary consultant physician at Guys and St Thomas’ Hospitals. He is also an expert in personalised medicine and the gut microbiome and started the famous UK Twin Registry in 1993. He is the lead researcher behind the world’s biggest citizen science health project – the ZOE COVID Symptom Study app.

The COVID Symptom Study app is a not-for-profit initiative that was launched at the end of March 2020 to support vital COVID-19 research. The app was launched by health science company ZOE with scientific analysis provided by King’s College London.

This free tool has been used by more than 4 million people in the UK, US, and Sweden. The app identified new symptoms of the disease and risk factors as well as monitoring its progress to warn health authorities. The app is sponsored by the Welsh Government, NHS Wales, the Scottish Government & NHS Scotland.

As the UK’s largest citizen science project, they are now expanding to better understand COVID-19 in children. Here’s what they say about the ZOE COVID Symptom Study School Communities Programme:

“With over 1,000 schools signed up, we need parents and carers to take 1 minute a day to report any symptoms and COVID tests on behalf of their children via our app. All symptom and test reports for children are collected anonymously and aggregated by their school and bubble. Schools receive daily insights on a variety of key COVID metrics for each bubble, with some insights also shared with parents.”

“If your school isn't signed up, ask them to join us! And don't worry, all parents can log their children's health at any time whether your school is signed up or not.”

Please join us here on Wednesday at 2pm. If you can’t join us on the day, please leave your question here in advance.

As always, please remember our webchat guidelines - one question per user, follow-ups only if there’s time and most questions have been answered, and please keep it civil. Also if one topic is dominating a thread, mods might request that people don't continue to post what's effectively the same question or point. (We may suspend the accounts of anyone who continues after we've posted to ask people to stop, so please take note.) Rest assured we will ALWAYS let the guest know that it's an area of concern to multiple users and will encourage them to engage with those questions.

Many thanks,
MNHQ

I have found it very difficult to sign up to - the information you have to put in is long winded and confusing. I got to the point of adding second lot of information for 'gender' and gave up.

This is probably offputting for many other people too. I have noticed that there are areas that still do not have enough coverage for it to operate properly.

Can you simplify it?

Thank you for the app. It is good to see output so quickly.

Will you be adding a future feature to report the efficacy of the various vaccines?

Also, is there any cooperation with the ONS to compare samples and demographic?

I would like to ask the professor what he thinks about moderate (clinically vulnerable) asthmatics being taken off the priority list for receiving the vaccine.

Does he think that, at the very least, under 50 asthmatics who have been defined as clinically vulnerable should get the vaccine ahead of under 50s who are not clinically vulnerable?

Thank you.

[Edited by MNHQ - changed ages by request]

Thank you for the app. I listen to Dr John Campbell and he has been covering the findings of your research as it goes along. It's great that the data generally comes up with the same figures as ons.

What improvements (if any) do you think could be made in schools to reduce transmission and sickness rates given everything you've found out so far?

Good afternoon Mumsnet, my name is Professor Tim Spector and I’m the lead researcher behind the ZOE COVID Symptom Study app. It’s great to be here and I look forward to answering your questions about COVID-19 and its impact on children.

Please find more info at our website: covid.joinzoe.com/post/back-to-school

For weekly COVID updates, subscribe to the ZOE Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/zoe-health

@Gancanny

Do you find it frustrating that Covid measures are becoming less about the science and more about party politics with various appeasements/u-turns/pointscoring, and do you feel this less-than-united government response is going to prolong the pandemic?

As a scientist my main objective is to share clear and transparent data with the public and keep people informed. As much as possible we have tried to stay away from any politics and kept our focus purely on the science of COVID-19. We have learnt a lot in a very short space of time so I see our role, now and in the future is to keep science at the forefront.

@StealthPolarBear

What impact did the roll out of the NHS app have on use of the zoe app? I wonder whether people felt all app-ed out or, like me, they had to delete something to make room for the new one.it must have been very difficult to have zoe always reflect the latest guidance and testing procedures.

When the NHS app was launched we received lots of questions from our users about the different apps.

We drafted a blog back in October to help explain how the apps are different and both important. Thankfully all our loyal contributors kept logging.

Read the full blog here: covid.joinzoe.com/post/nhs-app-covid-symptom-study

@starrynight19

What are the main symptoms you are finding in children who test positive ? It seems that the three symptoms children are being asked to test for are mainly adult symptoms and not children.

The top five symptoms in school aged children who test positive for COVID are; fatigue (55%) headache (53%), fever (49%), sore throat (38%) and loss of appetite (35%).

The older the child is the more their symptoms are like those of adults.

Read more about it on our blog: covid.joinzoe.com/post/back-to-school

@SheepandCow

Thank you for the app. It's so easy to use, with some very interesting information.

Do you believe that the initial vaccine cut-off age should be 40 or 45, rather than 50? (especially in deprived areas, where the risks are higher). Hospitalisations and deaths start to increase from about 45, and the Long Covid risk seems to increase from 40 (especially for women).

These cut offs are arbitrary and depend on supply and demand. Age is still the biggest risk factor for COVID deaths and long COVID. So as things stand, the cut offs are reasonable.

@PacificState

Hello

Thank you for the ZOE app. I remember back in the dark days of the spring it was one of the first things that felt vaguely hopeful and constructive.

On gut health - what's the first thing you'd recommend a middle-aged woman to do, to improve gut health? (It's going to involve not eating things I like, isn't it )

As I discuss in my books, The Diet Myth and Spoon-Fed, the key to improve your gut microbes is to increase your diversity of plants. Ideally, have over 30 plants a week. Another tip is to have a shot of fermented food every day.

Avoid ultra-processed foods with unwanted chemicals. Try eating foods high in polyphenols, like red wine and dark chocolate.

@Blue5238

I have been contributing to the Zoe app since the early spring and think it is a fabulous initiative for data gathering.

Can I ask, if you were Prime Minister, what would be the key elements of your Covid policy over the next 6-12 months?

@Blue5238 my policy would be to keep case levels in hospital at a level that the NHS could cope with until vaccines come in in April. This would mean having some restrictions until then but milder than we have at them moment so we don't cause more harm than good.

Many more people are at risk of mental health problems, heart disease, and cancer if we're not careful.

@CaveMum

Have you spoken to Department of Education about schools using the App? I sent a message to my daughter’s Primary School about using it and in the latest school newsletter the Headteacher said that she had received a number of requests from parents to use the app but after consultation with the Local Education Authority (Cambridgeshire) she had been advised not to do so due to fears about data protection.

If the LEA’s are advising against schools using the app then surely this side of the research will fail. I’d suggest lobbying the DofE to give clarification to the LEAs about using the app.

@CaveMum we've heard from other schools that this is the case but we're yet to hear from the authorities about why they're blocking research.

We take privacy very seriously. We are funded by the Department of Health.

Find our policy here: covid.joinzoe.com/privacy

Red wind and dark chocolate - that's going to be tough!

Thank you for the app - I started taking part at the beginning, and have always felt that you're a step ahead of the Govt. figures, which has helped me prepare (when the country was going dark red), and chill a little when we're getting pinker!

@PerArduaAdNauseum

As someone with Antiphospholipid Syndrome, I'm seeing a lot of similarity between APS and covid - both the acute and long covid. Is this something people are looking into, and can we hope that APS might get some new treatments in the future?

Hi @PerArduaAdNauseum yes there are similarities with APS and connective tissue diseases such as Lupus. Hopefully research into long COVID will have other spin offs.

Seeing the documentary The Diet Myth and then reading the book, and following suggestions to improve the gut microbiome has improved my physical and mental health immeasurably. Thank you!

Do you think a healthier, happier gut microbiome would help one if infected by Covid?

@ProfTimSpector regarding Covid's impact on mental health, how can we best capture this? Could your app help? I recall a question concerning diet and lifestyle a few months back, could something similar be used?

@whysohungryagain

Hi,

What's next for you and for ZOE after Covid? Does the Covid study have an end date and will you continue to work on epidemics or contagious diseases?

Thank you!

At the moment, we have no end date as we are still providing a vital role in the UK COVID-19 response. Today, we have had the announcement about roll out of the Pfizer vaccine, but even with this good news, we are still a long way off being over COVID-19. The next step for the app is the plug into the vaccine roll out and next week we will introduce questions into the app about whether people have had the vaccine and their symptoms. This will help us better understand the vaccines and their impacts. We will also be continuing to ask people to log in daily and let us know how they feel as this data is so important. The ZOE COVID Symptom Study data is quicker than the other government data so we are able to see trends before the ONS so in order to stay ahead we need to keep tracking COVID-19 in the population.

@chomalungma

I just wanted to say hi. I almost ended up working in one of your labs many years ago with the twin studies - but decided not to take it. There goes a sliding door

Anyway - I love the twin studies and the gut biome is fascinating.

Are you doing any work with your twin studies and Covid-19? Is there any interesting data from that?

@chomalungma yes twins have been invaluable during the pandemic. We found that which symptoms twins developed had a moderate genetic influence. We've also looked at antibodies in twins but so far we haven't found much genetic influence - which is curious.

If you are a twin and want to join our studies, go to our website: twinsuk.ac.uk/

@Bufferingkisses

Should lateral flow tests provided through workplaces be added to your tests on the app or is it aimed at PCR tests only?

@Bufferingkisses both tests should be recorded in the app and we'll be updating the app so you can give precise details of which test you had shortly.

@Melroses

I have found it very difficult to sign up to - the information you have to put in is long winded and confusing. I got to the point of adding second lot of information for 'gender' and gave up.

This is probably offputting for many other people too. I have noticed that there are areas that still do not have enough coverage for it to operate properly.

Can you simplify it?

We are always trying to find ways to simplify the app, and we have recently made some changes to do this. However, it's important to mention that there is a careful balance between everyone symptoms being picked up / getting the right level of information and making it simple! If we simplify too much we put the data at risk! Here is a blog about the recent changes: covid.joinzoe.com/post/changing-questions-in-the-app

@Joditaylorfan

I've been trying to add my children to the app. As I don't know their blood type, I can't go any further. Were you aware of this problem? I have raised it as a concern.

@Joditaylorfan I wasn't aware that was a problem. Thanks for logging it! By the way, we are finding blood group does have an impact on risk of infection.

@trunumber

Do you know if the Oxford vaccine can be taken by breastfeeding mothers?

@trunumber sorry, this is outside my areas of expertise!

Thank you for answering my initial question, now I'm going to be one of the people asking what the blood type impact is?

@Madcats

Thank you for the app. It is good to see output so quickly.

Will you be adding a future feature to report the efficacy of the various vaccines?

Also, is there any cooperation with the ONS to compare samples and demographic?

Hi Madcats. Thanks for logging with us! Yes, we will be releasing an update next week into the app which will be asking contributors to tell us if they have had a vaccine, and any potential side effects they might be experiencing. This will help us track the new vaccines and their potential impacts. We are in discussion with the ONS constantly and it is very reassuring that our surveys produce similar releases, with our data being a few days ahead.

@Ahava3

I feel quite disenfranchised with the whole covid testing scheme and general government response. Apparently the PCR testing has many flaws (see Dr. Mike Yeadon's extensive response to PCR testing). What is the point of introducing mass testing/tracing in schools? I personally would not test my child if they showed symptoms, I would keep them off school until they were healthy again, but think the tests are inconclusive and just feeding into the covid case numbers...lockdowns and general government CONTROL fir the greater good of course!!! Theoretically an unwell child may have dead covid virus that gets picked up because it's being tested for and then amplified, when really their symptoms are seasonal flu? What ever happened to the flu?

@Ahava3 I actually agree we shouldn't be mass testing children in schools. I also agree children should stay home for 3 - 5 days if they feel unwell. And we should involve GPs more in these decisions.

Our school study is not linked to mass testing.