Are corona infected people contagious before they even notice anything? A study of the first cases at Webasto in Starnberg shows how quickly you can catch the virus - with a sobering conclusion.
- A study is investigating the infection pathways that the coronavirus * has taken at Webasto in Stockdorf since it first became known.
- Among other things, the study reveals that even fleeting contact is enough to get infected.
- The researchers involved warn that it could be difficult to curb the spread of Covid 19 globally.
- Here you will find the basic facts about the corona virus and the corona news from Germany. We also offer you the current number of cases in Germany on a map. The following recommendations for corona protection measures are currently available.
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Gauting - Four months after the first corona cases in Germany , scientists analyzed the contagion chains of the first group of patients in detail. The study , published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, confirmed that infected people can be contagious before the first symptoms appear .
The researchers led by Merle Böhmer from the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety, Udo Buchholz from the Robert Koch Institute and Victor Corman from the Berlin Charité examined the first cases nationwide that were related to the auto supplier Webasto in Stockdorf near Munich. A Chinese colleague had introduced the pathogen during a business trip.
Coronavirus: Patient Zero had a meeting on January 20
Because most of the contacts were made within the company - and then within the family - and most meetings were well documented, the transmission routes were relatively easy to understand. The results are remarkably concrete, sometimes almost strange. The study describes how patient 0 (the Chinese Webasto employee) attended a meeting with three colleagues on January 20.
Patient 1 later sits in the twelve-square-meter conference room next to her, the other two directly opposite, separated by the table. You do not become infected. The following day, 0 and 1 meet again, two days later patient 1 complains of a sore throat.
In # Munich, 11 new # coronavirus cases were confirmed on Sunday, May 17. A total of 6,651 infections have been reported so far. Individual daily values are subject to fluctuations. More data and information at https://t.co/gy6AlreVKK pic.twitter.com/i3aGeTJqM6
- City of Munich (@StadtMuenchen) May 17, 2020It continues in such detail. Patient 3 had contact with patient 1 on January 24, the day after his first symptoms. The two colleagues work on the same computer for a short time. The very next day, patient 3 complained of the first symptoms. On this day, he meets later patient 12 for a 90-minute consultation. He in turn goes on vacation to Spain three days later.
The case of patients 4 and 5 shows how quickly the virus spreads and what fleeting contact is sufficient. They sit back to back in the canteen and number 5 turns around to borrow the salt shaker.
Coronavirus: Global containment could be difficult
The team concluded that infectivity was significant before the onset of symptoms or shortly thereafter, was a huge challenge for health measures. In addition, the incubation period, which averaged 4.0 days, was often very short. "Global containment of Covid-19 could be difficult to achieve," the researchers emphasize.
This is also underlined by Jan Rybniker and Gerd Fätkenheuer from Cologne University Hospital in a “Lancet” comment. “This matches other results that estimate the frequency of presymptomatic transmission to up to half of all infections. This is one of the most serious obstacles to controlling the pandemic. ”In the event of a larger spread, traditional contact tracking is no longer sufficient. "Therefore, new technologies such as contact tracking apps are urgently needed to effectively control the pandemic," emphasize the Cologne experts.
Coronavirus: Some countries practice rigorous contact detection
Annelies Wilder-Smith of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) explains this in a statement: The study underlines the importance of tracking transmission chains through contact tracing and quarantine of contacts. “All countries that have rigorously followed up contact tracking have been the most effective in keeping the number of new infections small. South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, and Singapore are clear examples of countries that do not save on resources and technology to rigorously identify contacts. Everyone was successful. "
* merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
Sabine Dobel / Marc Beyer
Rubric list image: © Marcus Schlaf