In connection with the coronavirus, there is always talk of herd immunity.
The Frankfurt virologist Sandra Ciesek vehemently warns against this concept.
Sandra Ciesek
is director at the Frankfurt Institute for Medical Virology.
The
coronavirus *
by a
herd immunity
to fight it sees as a wrong path.
The virologist gives an interview on the further course of the
corona pandemic
.
Frankfurt
- Since the beginning of autumn, the number of
Sars-CoV-2 cases
tested positive has
increased exponentially.
Germany is currently approaching the
19,200 infections per day forecast
by
Angela Merkel
for Christmas.
Sandra Ciesek
conducts research at the Frankfurt Institute for Medical Virology and is currently one of the most sought-after voices when it comes to the
coronavirus
.
In an interview with
Spektrum.de
on
Friday (October 30)
, Sandra Ciesek gave a personal assessment of the current situation of the pandemic in Germany.
Above all, she warned against the principle of
herd immunity
, which is often used as an argument against corona measures.
"We are still a long way from immunity for the population as a whole, ie herd immunity," said Ciesek.
+
Virologist Sandra Ciesek warns of herd immunity (archive picture).
© Frank Rumpenhorst / dpa
Corona cannot be combated via herd immunity: Virologist Sandra Ciesek on the infection
The
virologist
assumes that many people are seriously ill or even die before there is a
prevalence
could come of the population.
In addition, it has not yet been clarified to what extent an illness with the
Sars-CoV-2 * coronavirus
really leads to immunity.
Ciesek:
“It is known that coronaviruses generally do not lead to long immunity.
The average for the normal 'corona cold viruses' is one year. "
Ciesek is therefore calling for the known cases to be investigated in which there was reinfection with the
coronavirus *
.
In this way one can find more knowledge about possible vaccines and their application.
The
virologist from Frankfurt was somewhat surprised
by the high number of
corona cases
in September and October; she expected the rapid increase in December or January, as significantly more people are indoors at this time.
“In any case, it is certain that we will have to deal with the fact that the background noise will be higher over the winter than in summer,” said Ciesek.
Fighting the Coronavirus: These Ways Could Help With Containment
If we want to protect the most vulnerable in our society, we must try together to reduce the number of cases.
https://t.co/2MRxdiAdMT
- Sandra Ciesek (@CiesekSandra) October 31, 2020
In an interview with Spektrum.de, Sandra Ciesek therefore advises using the
Corona warning app
and keeping a
contact diary
.
In order to make the work of the employees of the health authorities easier and to make the chains of infection more understandable, it would make sense to write such a diary.
"Not every name is necessary, it is enough to note events and places that are possible sources of infection," says Ciesek.
(tko) * Merkur.de is part of the Ippen-Digital network.
List of rubric lists: © Frank Rumpenhorst / dpa