This page offers you with an array of useful resources related to COVID-19 and the liver, including articles, accounts from healthcare professionals, calls for abstracts, and statements.
You are welcome to send suggestions of materials to include to us at marcomms@easloffice.eu
Quick access
EASL webcasts
EASL has launched a series of webcasts relating to COVID-19. The speakers are world-renowned scientists and clinicians who discuss and share their knowledge about the latest developments of the virus.
Ask EASL podcast
In this Ask EASL podcast on COVID-19 vaccination, Prof. Markus Cornberg addresses and discusses questions from patients associations to Prof. Daniel Shouval and Dr. Christiane Eberhardt.
Now available!
EASL-WHO webinar on COVID-19 and the liver
Don’t miss this special webinar on COVID-19 and the liver organised by EASL and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Listen to a panel of leading international experts and clinicians in hepatology and virology presenting the latest information on the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO response, and how the pandemic is affecting the care of people with liver disease and viral hepatitis, both from a clinical and public health perspective. Then hear from frontline clinicians and programme managers from different countries on their experiences in the COVID-19 national response, and in managing the impact on hepatitis services during the current crisis. Viewers submitted their questions from around the world. You can read the Q&A, with expert answers.
EASL Campus series of webinars on COVID-19 and the liver
Limited knowledge on COVID-19 has evidenced the importance of sharing up-to-date information. Working with world-renowned experts, EASL has launched a series of open-access webinars relating to COVID-19 and the liver. Watch the webinars and stay tuned for more.
1. Virological Aspects of COVID-19
2. Viral markers and the diagnosis of COVID-19
3. Viral testing and the immune response to COVID-19
EASL, ESOT-ELITA and ILTS joint webinar
A joint webinar on the impact of COVID-19 on liver transplantation. ESOT-ELITA, EASL and ILTS speakers discuss the effects of the pandemic on liver transplantation in Europe and in the United States as well as the response of medical societies in regard to education.
COVID-19 related papers from the Journal of Hepatology and JHEP Reports
The “EASL COVID-19 article collection” houses articles dealing with COVID-19 and the liver published in EASL’s two journals, Journal of Hepatology and JHEP Reports. This initiative aims at facilitating access to research that can be critically relevant for the treatment of liver patients during the pandemic.
- Impact of COVID-19 on the care of patients with liver disease: EASL-ESCMID position paper after 6 months of the pandemic
- Outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with chronic liver disease: an international registry study
- High mortality rates for SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with pre-existing chronic liver disease and cirrhosis: Preliminary results from an international registry
- Epidemiological pattern, incidence, and outcomes of COVID-19 in liver transplant patients
- High rates of 30-day mortality in patients with cirrhosis and COVID-19
- COVID-19: Abnormal liver function tests
- SARS-CoV-2 infection of the liver directly contributes to hepatic impairment in patients with COVID-19
- Management of patients with autoimmune liver disease during COVID-19 pandemic
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases in patients with COVID-19: A retrospective study
Testimonials on dealing with the public health crisis
EASL Viewpoints are testimonials, interviews, and videos from healthcare professionals sharing life from the frontlines, across Europe.
In their testimonials, hepatologists, liver nurses, researchers, and academics tell how their working life has been affected by COVID-19 and what might be to come.
France, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, the UK… and more to come – watch the videos, read the interviews, and get to meet members of the hepatology community.
News from the EASL supported COVID-Hep registry
Press release, 21/05/2020
A new international study has found increased mortality rates from COVID-19 among people with chronic liver disease and cirrhosis and has called for patients with worsening liver function to be tested for coronavirus.
The researchers, led by teams at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of North Carolina, set up an international registry (the EASL supported COVID-hep registry, see below) to collect clinical details of patients with chronic liver disease and cirrhosis who develop COVID-19. Between 25 March 2020 and 20 April 2020, 152 cases were submitted to the registry, over 95% of which were hospitalised. Patients with cirrhosis had poor outcomes with an overall death rate of 40 percent. Those with advanced disease called decompensated cirrhosis had the highest rate of death (between 43 and 63 percent), compared with 12 percent for patients with liver disease but without cirrhosis.
The EASL supported COVID-Hep registry was launched at the University of Oxford, UK on 23 March 2020. The registry is collecting data on patients, with liver disease at any stage or liver transplants, that have also developed laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. On 21 May, a study based on the first 152 consecutive submissions was published in the Journal of Hepatology.
As of 22 September, data collected (combined with data from SECURE-cirrhosis who are covering the Americas, China, Japan, and Korea) has grown to 1,335 submissions, constituting 1,149 cases and 232 deaths; 545 with cirrhosis
and 170 liver transplant recipients. Browse the weekly updates and downloadable reports.
To find out more or make a submission, visit COVID-Hep. You can also request updates by email.
Care of patients with liver disease during the COVID-19 pandemic: EASL-ESCMID Position Paper
EASL-ESCMID Position Paper: a review, six months into the pandemic
Six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, an article has been published in JHEP Reports to provide guidance for physicians involved in the care of patients with chronic liver disease. It serves as an update, summarising the evidence for liver disease involvement during COVID-19 and providing recommendations on how to return to routine care wherever possible.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, EASL and the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) have issued a Position Paper providing recommendations for clinicians on caring for patients with liver diseases and for liver transplant recipients. The joint Position Paper also provides a flowchart and an overview of current treatment options, to help clinicians with decision-making during this resource-strapped time.
External resources on COVID-19
Public health resources
○ European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control: COVID-19
○ European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control: today’s data on geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases worldwide
○ European Commission: Coronavirus response
○ European Commission: Public health
○ European Medicines Agency: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
○ *NEW* European Medicines Agency: Viral vector vaccines infographic and social media carousel (Twitter)
○ *NEW* European Medicines Agency: mRNA vaccines animation, infographic, social media carousel (Twitter) and video
○ World Health Organization: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak
○ World Health Organization: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Pandemic
○ World Health Organization: Q&A on coronaviruses (COVID-19)
Curated resources
○ British Medical Journal: Coronavirus (covid-19): Latest news and resources
○ Cell Press: COVID-19 Resource Hub
○ The Lancet: COVID-19 Resource Centre
○ New England Journal of Medicine: Coronavirus (Covid-19)
○ Science: Coronavirus: Research, Commentary, and News
COVID-19 and the liver
○ The Lancet: COVID-19 and the liver: little cause for concern
○ The Lancet: Liver injury in COVID-19: management and challenges
Open access scientific articles
○ Cell.com: Structure, Function, and Antigenicity of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Glycoprotein
○ Journal of Clinical Microbiology: The emergence of a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), their biology and therapeutic options
○ Nature: Characterization of the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of 2019 novel coronavirus
○ Nature: Epidemiological data from the COVID-19 outbreak, real-time case information
○ Nature: Network-based drug repurposing for novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV/SARS-CoV-2
BioMed Alliance submits Joint Statement to EU leaders
Subsequent to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, EASL and 32 other leading European medical associations – together forming the Biomedical Alliance in Europe (BioMed Alliance) – have submitted a joint statement to EU leaders.
Latest news from the community
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