“It was a busy and stressful time,” says Martin Hoch, head of the Infectious Diseases Task Force, when he remembers the corona pandemic. But he also sounds proud. After all, they took care of the first case in Germany at Munich Airport and set up the first large test center, supported nursing homes with hygiene issues, and wrote infection protection concepts and situation reports. A lot of work that required more staff to handle. Since 2021, the task force has also existed in Memmingen and Erlangen and is affiliated with the State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL).
The Infectious Diseases Task Force is a special unit with a total of around 70 employees, including doctors, nurses, hygiene inspectors and epidemiologists. They respond to new infectious diseases or cross-district outbreaks to support health authorities. This can be in cases like Corona in 2020 or in a large operation in the Mühldorf district last year. Two people there had died of the Borna virus within two years, which is why the population was widely tested. In a gymnasium, the task force assisted with registering people, taking blood samples, swabs and conducting interviews.
Kirsten Höper heads the task force in Memmingen.
(Photo: Wagner-Hoppe/Photoresque)
But their everyday lives are more likely to be characterized by diseases such as tuberculosis, meningococci, scabies or hepatitis, says Kirsten Höper, head of the task force in Memmingen. Whether they move out “always depends on the circumstances of the local health authorities,” she explains. The decisive factor is the number and knowledge of the staff. The area of operation of the Memminger Stelle is in Swabia and extends to southern Middle Franconia and western Upper Bavaria. It is located at Allgäu Airport. Another task is compliance with international health regulations and the Infection Protection Act.
“But if it becomes known that a suspected case of a serious illness is on the plane, then it will be redirected to Munich,” says Höper. “Then we’ll be out of Memmingen and our colleagues from Munich would take over.” If there is an alarm, the team will deploy there with protective suits. They determine how likely it is that the passenger is really infected. If this is the case, the patient will be taken to the special isolation ward at Schwabing Hospital as quickly as possible. Now the other passengers must also be informed, reassured and explained and the plane must be disinfected. The emergency force is always prepared for emergencies and has operational plans with which they can take over complex management should suspicion arise.
There is a lot we can learn from the past few years and “make the task force fit for future pandemics,” says Martin Hoch.
(Photo: State Office for Health and Food Safety)
During the pandemic, the task force was almost exclusively concerned with infection protection, says Höper. It wasn’t just Corona, but also tuberculosis, hepatitis, etc. Now it’s time to take care of other things again. In Memmingen, for example, people are in the process of planning an inspection of a facility for the disabled. The health department believes there are problems with hygiene and procedures there. In addition, there are always training courses and exercises for staff and inquiries from the press and ministries have to be processed. The task force is still dealing with the pandemic to the extent that it is preparing final reports and reports on it. There is a lot we can learn from the past few years and “make the task force fit for future pandemics,” says Hoch.
A larger project that the task force is currently dealing with is mosquito monitoring. Mosquito traps were set up throughout Bavaria, including on the A7 at the Allgäuer Tor service area. The Memmingen team empties the trap weekly. They look to see whether exotic mosquito species have traveled across the border in cars or trucks. If you find something, you can plan further measures to prevent the spread and settlement, explains Höper.
Special attention is also being paid to the extent to which the Asian tiger mosquito is spreading in Bavaria. There had been cases of dengue fever on Lake Garda, which is transmitted by this type of mosquito. The task force found them in Bavaria, for example in traps in Würzburg. The vectors of tropical diseases are a future topic in infectiology, says Hoch, who heads mosquito monitoring.