Despite summer temperatures, an unusually high number of people are currently suffering from colds. Even if most people are no longer getting tested, many are likely to have contracted corona. The viral infection still poses a threat to patients with pre-existing illnesses and weakness, and a not insignificant proportion subsequently develop long Covid.
Virus has taken hold
Seven-day incidences, mandatory mask wearing, lockdowns, sub-variants of mutations with cryptic letter-number combinations – between 2020 and 2022 we lived in a parallel universe in which Sars-2 seemed to dominate everything. Although the coronavirus has largely lost its terror thanks to vaccinations and previous infections, the virus has now settled in to stay.
An employee fills a syringe with a corona vaccine dose. The new vaccine, which is better adapted to the current virus variants, has been available for a good week. Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa/Symbolbild (Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa/Symbolbild)
According to estimates by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), which are based on sample projections, one in five to six people with respiratory diseases currently has Covid-19 (17 percent). The estimated incidence is 600 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. A number that would have led to large-scale lockdowns three years ago.
We have an unusually high number of infections for this time of year.
Dr. Rian Urbach
“We have an unusually high number of infections for this time of year,” confirms Dr. Rian Urbach, who runs the largest general practice in the Ravensburg district in the western part of Ravensburg. During the pandemic, he and his colleagues in the Corona-focused practice have vaccinated more than 30,000 people.
For several weeks now, he has observed that, despite summer temperatures, many patients are suffering from fever and dry cough, “the typical symptoms,” as he says. Some also have old rapid corona tests lying around in their drawers, which then come back positive, but most simply get a sick note over the phone.
Separate infectious patients from others
What he supports: “If someone is seriously ill, they should not sit in the waiting room with vulnerable patients and cough on them.” In his practice, there would be a separate infection consultation hour and separate rooms for patients with colds and other patients, but most GP practices do not have this option.
I would have thought that consideration for others would remain – similar to Asia.
Dr. Rian Urbach
The general practitioner complains that the awareness of being able to infect other people has unfortunately disappeared for many people after the pandemic. Some patients come to the doctor’s office without a face mask, go to the office, visit their grandmother in the nursing home or go to the supermarket. Even though they know that they have corona or another contagious respiratory disease. “That really surprises me. I would have thought that the consideration for others – similar to Asia – would remain.”
The lack of concern also means that there is hardly any demand for the adapted vaccine, which has only recently become available. Urbach estimates that patients ask for a booster vaccination once or twice a week. However, this is expected to increase again from October. “We are specifically targeting patients for whom a flu vaccination is also recommended.” This means: senior citizens and people with relevant pre-existing conditions, such as diabetes or COPD.
Some patients still need ventilation
This is because they are still at risk of having to go to hospital with Corona, as Susann Ganzert, press spokeswoman for the Bodensee Medical Campus (MCB), confirms: “In both MCB hospitals in Friedrichshafen and Tettnang, we are currently caring for patients suffering from Corona.” In vulnerable patients, Covid-19 continues to worsen the general state of health, so that they have to be ventilated.
This also applies to other serious respiratory diseases, says Winfried Leiprecht from the press office of the Oberschwabenklinik in Ravensburg. “The coronavirus as a cause is not considered to be particularly worse than others.” In both Ravensburg and Wangen, five patients have just tested positive for Covid-19 and are being isolated accordingly.
Although the pandemic has been officially declared over, Covid-19 remains a disease of special interest due to its potentially severe and even fatal course and the possible impact on public health. According to the Infection Protection Act, doctors and laboratories must continue to report confirmed cases to the health department, even if those infected no longer have to isolate themselves. This applies to positive test results as well as deaths related to the virus.
Dr. John Paul Fobiwe, Head of the Tuttlingen Health Department (Photo: private)
But since hardly anyone is tested, the official spread is far below the RKI’s estimates, as an inquiry to the Tuttlingen district health department shows. In February 2022, this was an absolute hotspot with the most new corona infections in the country. Today, Dr. John Paul Fobiwe, head of the Tuttlingen district health department, says: “Covid does not play a major role for us as a notifiable disease at the moment.”
Official figures do not reflect reality
In July, 36 cases were reported to the office, but in August, up to the middle of the month, only three. Of course, these numbers do not reflect reality, he adds. Many people with respiratory diseases no longer test themselves for Covid. The options for taking a PCR test – and only positive PCR tests are included in the health authorities’ statistics – are now significantly limited.
Fobiwe assumes that the number of infections will rise noticeably in autumn and winter, similar to many other respiratory diseases, partly due to people gathering in enclosed spaces.
Dr. Peter Hannemann is chief physician at the Espan rehabilitation clinic in Bad Dürrheim. Long Covid patients are cared for there. (Photo: private)
Even if the acute illnesses resemble flu in terms of symptoms in the worst case, Dr. Peter Hannemann sees no reason to sound the all-clear. The 65-year-old is chief physician and director of the Espan specialist clinic for pulmonology in Bad Dürrheim. Around 20 percent of patients come to the rehabilitation clinic between the Black Forest and the Alb with post-Covid symptoms.
Shortness of breath during exertion, exhaustion and cognitive impairment are the most frequently reported complaints. “Although exhaustion syndrome is certainly the most stressful,” says the doctor.
I have seen cases where young people had to abandon their studies because they could no longer cope.
Dr. Peter Hannemann
Women are twice as likely to be affected by long Covid as men, children and young adults less often. And the severity of the course of the disease influences the risk, he says, referring to studies. “I have seen cases where young people had to abandon their studies because they could no longer cope,” says Hannemann.
The tricky thing is that the exhaustion does not occur during the actual exertion, but rather many hours later. This means that those affected cannot prepare themselves for how much they can take on. And they only get the bill half a day later, when they are so exhausted that they can no longer get out of bed.
“The trigger threshold can change at any time,” the doctor emphasizes. In addition to physical exertion, cognitive exertion such as studying or working at a desk can also be a cause. Sensory stimuli, especially noises, can also be a cause. Sometimes just the clatter of cutlery at lunch is enough to make those affected completely exhausted.
He refers to studies that show that the omicron variants that have been prevalent since 2022 lead to long Covid somewhat less frequently than the original virus, Alpha and Delta. And he immediately qualifies this statement: “We are talking about a probability of around five percent instead of 6.2 percent for the initially predominant variants. So negligibly less.” Everyone must know that they have this risk if they are infected with the coronavirus. “And you get infected incredibly quickly,” says Hannemann.
Some patients are so badly affected that they can only stare into space in a darkened room. There is currently no cure for them, although intensive research is being carried out. For them, the pandemic continues.
