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Researchers with pressing questions about Corona

2020-08-19T20:37:07.474Z


The coronavirus is turning the world upside down. Experts are working to better understand the virus in order to get a grip on it. From their point of view, these questions should urgently be clarified.


The coronavirus is turning the world upside down. Experts are working to better understand the virus in order to get a grip on it. From their point of view, these questions should urgently be clarified.

Berlin (dpa) - The effort is immense: Thousands of scientists are currently devoting themselves to the corona virus in order to better understand the pathogen and its consequences.

We already know very well how Sars-CoV-2 is transmitted, which situations can cause outbreaks, and we gain daily experience in the treatment of sick people. In view of the increasing number of cases in Germany, for example, such findings are extremely important. Nevertheless, there is still a lot in the dark. What are the most pressing questions for doctors, scientists and other experts that should be clarified?

PREVENT: There are numerous vaccine candidates around the world. Russia recently announced the world's first government approval of a vaccine for widespread use. But which vaccination will prove to be the silver bullet? According to the infectiologist Bernd Salzberger, this question will be clarified in the next few weeks and months. "When this question is resolved, almost all other questions are secondary." If, contrary to expectations, a vaccine is delayed, the expert from the University Hospital Regensburg expects that possible additional protective measures will come to the fore, for example for the ventilation of classrooms.

RECOGNIZE: The test capacities in Germany have been continuously expanded and test offers expanded. For the epidemiologist Gérard Krause from the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research in Braunschweig, that alone will hardly help: "We have to work on using tests in a more focused manner." For example, there needs to be a better prioritization of who is tested, when and how often. Laboratory results should also reach the health authorities faster. Krause sees the risk that mass unreasonable tests could lead to sick people, people who have come into contact with risks and medical staff having to wait longer than before for their urgently needed test results because their processing is in competition with the other, less urgent tests.

Eugen Brysch, chairman of the Patient Protection Foundation, emphasized that binding prioritization when testing for the virus is essential. "Tests are imperative for people with symptoms and in the healthcare sector." Brysch also calls for weekly preventive tests in all health and care professions.

TREATMENT: "We still don't really understand when to flip which switch," says Salzberger, referring to the therapy of Covid-19 patients. Antiviral drugs are only beneficial when patients feel bad - and not at an early stage, such as antibiotics for bacterial pneumonia. Against this background, it is desirable to know individual parameters with which an impending severe course can be recognized, says Salzberger.

No standard procedure has yet been established for the treatment of Covid-19 patients. Guidelines for this are currently being developed depending on the severity of the disease, said Klaus Rabe, Medical Director at the LungenClinic Grosshansdorf and board member of the German Society for Pneumology and Respiratory Medicine. For example, it is important to set criteria for how long one can wait before starting ventilation. Patients who do not need invasive ventilation have a better prognosis. A study showed: The mortality rate in Covid 19 patients in Germany who were ventilated was particularly high at 53 percent. Rabe emphasized, however, that ventilation naturally does not have to be the cause of this process.

Mild processes: Sars-CoV-2 seems to have a double nature: tragically fatal in some people and surprisingly mild in others, write US researchers in the journal "Annals of Internal Medicine". Asymptomatic people seem to make up about 40 to 45 percent of infections. However, the absence of symptoms does not necessarily mean that there is no harm. It is not yet clear why the courses differ so greatly. Studies suggest that blood type could be a factor. Research is also being carried out into whether previous colds, triggered by well-known coronaviruses, could influence the severity of an infection with Sars-CoV-2. According to the Berlin Charité, coronaviruses cause up to 30 percent of seasonal colds in Germany.

"We urgently need data on patients who do not have to be ventilated on machines or who do not appear sick," said Rabe. It is important to look at long-term courses and also to observe what is happening outside the lungs. In addition, according to Rabe, therapy options are also needed for people with mild illnesses.

IMMUNITY: Many people, including scientists, hope that after being infected with Sars-CoV-2, they will be immune to it for at least a while. But whether it is so is not certain. Rather, many studies indicate that especially in people who had few or no symptoms, antibodies can no longer be detected in the blood soon after an infection. It is still unclear what this means for possible immunity. But the observations raise doubts about the informative value of antibody tests and the repeatedly discussed immunity passports.

LATE EFFECTS: "Recover" is in many corona statistics. But are these people really fit again? Due to the novelty of the clinical picture, no reliable statements can be made about long-term effects and consequential damage caused by Covid-19 or its treatment, such as long-term ventilation, writes the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in an online profile. However, there are reports of patients who were more likely to be more easily ill, but who continue to suffer from consequences for weeks and months, such as shortness of breath during exertion. It is now clear: Covid-19 not only affects the lungs, but the virus - just like flu viruses, for example - can also affect other organs.

ORIGIN: Studies suggest that the virus originated in bats. But how did it spread to humans? Intermediate hosts are suspected: In the meantime, the pangolin was under discussion - a theory that the virologist Christian Drosten rejected. Some time ago he drew the suspicion of raccoon dogs in which the Sars pathogen had already been found after the Sars outbreak in 2002/3. The question has not yet been clarified. From the perspective of the lung specialist Rabe, the lightening of such gray areas would help against conspiracy theories. In conversations with patients, he sometimes noticed a deep level of uncertainty due to unclear facts and contradicting information.

PSYCHOLOGY: Experts compared the pandemic to a marathon early on. How to run the long distance has to be learned, says Rabe. Dividing up your energy, taking a break if possible, dealing with your own exhaustion - such aspects are now figuratively important for the population in order to get through the pandemic and the necessary behavioral restrictions. Rabe is disturbed by interest-driven easing debates, for example by the cruise industry or the football lobby, and by politicians going it alone, which harmed confidence in politics and institutions. "The basic principle should be: Keep calm and keep working", he emphasizes.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 200819-99-223714 / 3

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-08-19

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