SARS-CoV-2 will continue to occupy us in the future. Experts from research and practical medicine, who met on Saturday evening for a panel discussion at the health forum Praevenire in Alpbach in Tyrol, agreed on this. “The pandemic has definitely come to stay. There will always be waves,” said Gerald Gartlehner, head of the Department for Evidence-Based Medicine at Danube University Krems. If it stays with Omikron as a “relatively less disease-causing variant”, there will be ever stronger immunity. However, if a more dangerous mutation develops again, this could change the situation drastically.
The view of Florian Thalhammer, President of the Austrian Society for Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, is similar: “The virus stays there.” For the scientist, the Covid-19 vaccines represent enormous progress: “I think the vaccines that are available today are the best-studied drugs.” No other drug would have “a billion subjects”.
Thalhammer draws a comparison: With the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, which has been approved since 1962, potential side effects are only now being discovered that occur once in three million applications. Due to the billions of applications, rare potential side effects of corona vaccines can be noticed within a very short time.
There is a lack of personal responsibility on the part of the people, according to Thalhammer the guidelines are clear: “We are talking about basic immunization with three partial vaccinations. An infection is an immunological event, but does not count towards vaccination. The ‘fourth stitch’ is for all age groups from the fifth Age clearly recommended.”
The question of vaccination is important, but should not disrupt the entire doctor-patient relationship, said Erwin Rebhandl, founder of the primary care center Haslach an der Mühl (Rohrbach district): “My experience is that the real vaccine skeptics cannot be made happy with any vaccine with them we agree that we stop arguing.” Because these people should also see a doctor in the event of illness.
Luger criticizes Polaschek
The number of hospitalized Covid 19 sufferers is declining noticeably. 1160 people were treated more inpatients across Austria on Sunday, 89 fewer than on Sunday a week ago. At 4735, the new infections were almost identical to those last Sunday (4731).
It is still unclear how the approaching start of school in September will affect the number of infections. Linz Mayor Klaus Luger (SP) asked Education Minister Martin Polaschek (VP) to disclose the test strategy for the coming school year. “For the third time under the second Minister of Education, neither parents, students nor teachers know before school starts whether and under what conditions tests are planned in the schools. Experts, such as Linz University Professor Lamprecht, warn of an increase in the pandemic from exactly this point in time. Minister Polaschek has an urgent need for action,” says Luger.
Luger also criticized the stipulation that infected educators were allowed to teach. Here, Upper Austria’s education officer Christine Haberlander (VP) is required. “It is irresponsible to let infected teachers loose on healthy children.” Instead – as in the Linz magistrate – teachers who have tested positive should not be allowed to come to school.
Source: Nachrichten
