This summer, many people in Baden-Württemberg have caught a cold. (Symbolic image) Photo: dpa/Bernd Weißbrod
The heat is so oppressive right now that you’ve almost forgotten the rainy June. Unless you’ve had a terrible cold, which is true for quite a few people in the middle of summer.
Coughing and a cold, especially in summer? According to data from the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), this is what is happening to tens of thousands of people in Baden-Württemberg. According to the data, one in four of the record number of days of absence since January were due to respiratory infections. “The current June figures show that the number of sick days due to cold diagnoses is actually increasing again compared to May,” said Nadia Mussa, the head of the TK regional office in Baden-Württemberg. “This suggests a summer wave that was not observed last year.”
From the TK’s point of view, the reasons can only be speculated: “The risk of infection is generally higher where many people come together in a small space,” said Mussa. This applies to the European Football Championship with its public viewings as well as to open-air concerts, for example. In addition, in addition to warm periods in June in Baden-Württemberg, there were also cooler periods with a lot of rain. According to the experience of virologists, this promotes the spread of pathogens.
Overall, the number of days absent reached a record high
According to statistics, employees insured with TK in Baden-Württemberg were absent for an average of 2.1 days between January and June due to coughs, colds or flu. The national average was 2.3 days.
Overall, the number of days of absence reached a record high: on average, employees insured with TK were absent for 7.9 days, which is even longer than the previous record of 7.75 days in the first six months of last year. For comparison: before the corona pandemic, insured persons were absent for an average of 6.5 days in the first half of 2019.
The figures come from the evaluations of the TK health report. They are based on the approximately 5.7 million employed people insured with TK. Of these, more than 600,000 live in Baden-Württemberg.
