Many Covid-19 patients die of an insidious disease that is far too often not recognized.
To improve the chances of survival, a medical professional calls for a national plan.
In
Germany
many die
Corona
-Patients
at a
blood poisoning
- the
sepsis
.
According to experts, many fatal courses could be prevented.
The head of the German
Sepsis Foundation is
therefore calling for a
national sepsis plan
.
Germany
is still
struggling
with the
corona pandemic
, but at least there are first signs of relaxation.
The
lockdown
that
has been in place for weeks
now
seems to have finally taken effect.
The number of
new infections every
day is falling and the seven-day incidence is falling in many parts of the country.
Many corona patients die of sepsis - it doesn't have to be
But one thing is of great concern to the experts: the still
very high death rate
.
RKI boss Lothar Wieler called them "almost unbelievable" at a press conference.
But many victims do not have to lose their lives at all.
According to the German Sepsis Foundation many die
Corona patients
on a
blood infection
that remained undetected or is diagnosed too late.
As before, there is widespread ignorance about the topic of sepsis in the population, but also in some cases among medical or nursing staff, said the foundation chairman Konrad Reinhart the editorial network Germany (RND).
Coronavirus and sepsis: doctor calls for national sepsis plan
“A big problem is that many patients who want to cure themselves with an uncomplicated Covid 19 disease at home do not notice in time when it
turns
into
sepsis
,” explained Reinhart.
"Anyone who notices signs such as a sudden extreme feeling of illness, fever, a high pulse, confusion or chills should by no means wait and go to a hospital or call the emergency doctor immediately."
In a
sepsis
- general
blood poisoning
called - is an
overreaction of the immune system to infection
.
This damages organs and can lead to death within hours.
A
sepsis
not only in the course of
Covid-19 disease
arise, but also include pneumonia, urinary tract infections and flu.
Sepsis: Around 75,000 deaths annually from blood poisoning in Germany
According to the
sepsis
Foundation die each year around 75,000 people in Germany at a
sepsis
.
Around 15,000 to 20,000 of them could be saved if the disease was recognized in good time and treated appropriately.
The intensive care
physician
Reinhart therefore calls for a
national sepsis plan
.
He receives support for his claim from the Robert Koch Institute and the National Academy of Sciences
Leopoldina
.
Despite these depressing numbers, there is
hope
in the
pandemic
that the situation will noticeably improve due to the ever increasing number of people vaccinated.
Chancellery chief Helge Braun told
Spiegel
that he was optimistic that we could “return to our normal life in summer”.
Charité virologist Christian Drosten warned against loosening corona measures too early because the number of
new infections could
then
rise
to 100,000.
(mt / dpa)