Virus flu and coronavirus infection are similar. An expert reveals which infectious disease is dangerous and who is at risk.
- Infection with coronaviruses can be fatal - just like virus flu.
- Certain groups of people are particularly at risk in both cases.
- Virus flu kills countless people every year - far more than a coronavirus infection?
After the first confirmed coronavirus cases in Bavaria *, Federal Health Minister Spahn declared in the Tagesschau that one was well prepared. He would make the reporting chains even closer and impose additional reporting requirements on airlines and clinics, Spahn said in an interview. "In our opinion, the risk to the health of people in Germany from this new respiratory disease from China remains low," said Spahn.
However, many citizens are concerned about new cases of SARS-like lung disease, which is caused by new types of coronavirus *. To date, 79,339 coronavirus infections and 2,619 deaths have been reported in 2020 (as of February 25, 2020) . For comparison: According to the World Health Organization, there are three to five million severe cases of flu worldwide each year. Of these, up to 650,000 people die from the viral disease.
Coronavirus infections in Germany: "There is currently no cause for serious concern"
In the Tagesschau on January 28, 2020, virologist Professor Hans-Georg Kräusslich from Heidelberg University explained how dangerous the coronavirus should be: "I think the excitement about the coronavirus comes from the fact that it is a new pathogen and as always New pathogens are not yet sure what to do next. There is no evidence that it has a higher pathogenicity ( editor's note: ability to cause pathological changes in the organism ) than the normal flu virus (...) ". However, one does not know exactly how coronavirus infections develop. "There is currently no cause for great concern," says Krausslich.
Most of the coronavirus deaths have occurred in China. So far, infection has mainly led to death in people with severe previous illnesses . The risk groups include:
- People with heart disease
- cancer patients
- older people
- immunocompromised people (e.g. due to autoimmune diseases)
Read also : Does a mask protect against coronavirus infection? Who should wear a face mask .
No coronavirus drug found so far
The situation is similar with the virus flu . Here, too, young, healthy people are far less at risk than older people with previous illnesses or immunodeficiency, according to Kräusslich.
As with a flu infection *, there has so far been no drug that works against the virus when it is infected with coronaviruses. However, symptoms such as respiratory infections or difficulty coughing up can be treated. Treatment is symptomatic of both diseases . "You wait until the body's immune system can cope with the respective pathogen," says virologist Krausslich.
Survey on the subject
More on the subject : First coronavirus patient in Munich on an isolation ward.
Read more : Coronavirus: what are the symptoms? Lung disease is spreading.
Frankfurt : The tourism industry in Frankfurt clearly feels the effects of the corona virus *. Hotels and trade fairs in particular are affected by the decreasing tourism from China. However, there is no need to worry.
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* Merkur.de and fnp.de belong to the Germany-wide Ippen-Digital editors network
