Respiratory disease - Doctors rely on vaccinations for RSV
The coughing and sniffling is starting again everywhere. According to reports from the Robert Koch Institute, the number of respiratory diseases is rising and coronavirus tests are in greater demand again, explained the Munich Clinic.
The increase in coronavirus infections can also be seen in the Divi Intensive Care Register statistics on intensive care bed occupancy, which the State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) updates for Bavaria on its website. According to these statistics, the number of intensive care beds occupied by coronavirus patients rose from a single-digit or low double-digit figure in late summer to more than 150 in November. However, the figures are far below those of 2021, when more than 1,000 intensive care beds were occupied by Covid patients at the same time of year.
München Klinik, which claims to be the second-largest municipal hospital group in Germany, says it is currently treating around 60 coronavirus patients, a single-digit number of whom are in intensive care and monitoring wards. The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in adults is sometimes underestimated when it comes to colds, it added. The hospital experts are focusing on new vaccinations here.
"Since this year, we have two new vaccination options against RSV. This is all the more important as there is no specific therapy against the virus," says Marcus Krüger, head physician of the pediatric intensive care units at Munich Hospital Schwabing and Harlaching. "Older people can protect themselves effectively with the new active vaccination. This is important for pediatric medicine because the grandparent generation is no longer a source of infection for infants."
The vaccine was approved for pregnant women in Europe in the summer. The antibodies produced by the mother also protect the child, especially in the weeks after birth. If the vaccination options are used, Krüger is confident that RSV will no longer be as severe as it has been in the last five years or so.
Last year in particular, infants up to the age of six months were severely affected. However, figures from the USA show that RSV can also be dangerous for adults. There, around 177,000 adults were hospitalized with RSV in 2022, 14,000 of whom died.
Older people aged 60 and over are among the risk groups for RSV, as they are for influenza and coronavirus. Experts advise them to get vaccinated. For influenza, there is a special vaccine for people over 60.
Hand hygiene and wearing masks also help. "Even though we are no longer in a pandemic situation, Covid-19 and its various sub-variants are still very much in circulation. The Eris variant currently dominates in Germany and the Pirola variant in other countries," said Wolfgang Guggemos, Senior Consultant in Infectious Diseases at Munich Schwabing Hospital.
Other variants currently circulating are JN1 and, new in the USA, the HV1 variant, a "grandchild" of Omikron. According to the findings, all variants did not lead to severe courses more frequently and vaccinations provided good protection. In addition to respiratory symptoms, diarrhea, swelling in the mouth or skin rashes could indicate infection with the new variants.
LGL with data on intensive care bed occupancy with corona patients LGL on RSV and corona data
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Source: www.stern.de
