Background

Hintergrund SARS-CoV-2 Pandemie

In December 2019, the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 with the associated severe respiratory disease COVID-19 appeared in Wuhan Province in China and has spread throughout the world in a very short time. Since then, measures such as exit restrictions to contain the pandemic have been introduced in many countries – including in Germany. Attempts have been made to curb the spread of the virus in order to protect the particularly vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, immunocompromised and people with previous illnesses, and not to overload the health system. Diese Maßnahmen werden kontinuierlich unter Berücksichtigung des Infektionsgeschehens angepasst.

Scientific data indicate that a large proportion of those infected show no typical symptoms of the disease and are therefore not recorded in the reporting statistics. As a result, the actual number of cases, the presumably associated immunity to SARS-Co-V-2 and the mortality rate are unknown. These parameters play an important role in the assessment and prognosis of the further course of the epidemic in Germany and are intended to provide information and recommendations for action for politicians.

In order to be able to determine the actual spread of the virus, there is the possibility of the Blood serumBlutplasmaist die zellfreie Blutflüssigkeit, die nach Entfernung der Blutzellen (Blutkörperchen und Thrombozyten) und der Gerinnungsfaktoren zurückbleibt test for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. These antibodies are formed a short time after infection by the human immune system and remain in the body even after the illness, and can thus react faster and better to the virus in the event of a renewed infection and thus presumably ensure immunity. How long the immunity lasts is still unclear and will be found out with the help of this study.

Another aim of the study for the coming years is to analyse the medium and long-term effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) used during the COVID-19 pandemic on respiratory infections such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and pneumococcal diseases. These infectious diseases are still poorly researched. However, they play a crucial role in assessing the total burden of disease according to NPIs.