“By wearing masks and the other rules, the number of patients with flu and other viral pathogens during the Corona period was vanishingly low,” said Gernot Marx, the President of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (Divi). “We fear that this positive effect will now disappear and that we will look after the potential corona patients between October and March as well as the other patients with viral diseases.”
The number of patients is difficult to estimate, even before the Corona period, the values fluctuated from season to season. “But it is clear that flu and Covid-19 patients may need the same therapies, for example the artificial lung. The Ecmo capacity in Germany is very good in an international comparison, but each capacity has its limits.”
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), older people and those with certain basic illnesses or severe obesity have an increased risk of a more severe course of flu. Pregnancy, especially at an advanced stage, also increases this risk.
In an autumn-winter strategy for inpatient and outpatient care, the RKI recently warned early preparation “for an increased disease occurrence”, “also in view of the additional exposure to be expected from acute respiratory infections”, which will not be in the 2020/21 season circulated in the population. In addition to the flu, the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is also mentioned, a pathogen that is widespread worldwide and which, according to the RKI, can cause simple respiratory infections as well as serious illnesses.
Marx called again to take advantage of the vaccination offers against Covid-19: “I do not know where this we-have-made-it feeling of some people comes from, when we have not yet vaccinated so many. To believe that you can get the vaccination do not need, because so many have already been vaccinated, is an absolute fallacy, “said Marx, the director of the Clinic for Operative Intensive Medicine and Intermediate Care at the University Hospital Aachen. The number of new infections depends on the willingness to vaccinate and sensible behavior with caution, intervals and mask. That is crucial to get through the next few months better.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
