Rostock (dpa/mv) – The Rostock infectiologist Emil Reisinger does not expect the corona pandemic to have any lasting impact on people’s behavior, for example during cold times. “People forget things like this relatively quickly,” the doctor told the German Press Agency. However, the last Corona wave was only a year ago. Many people therefore paid attention to vaccinations and avoided larger events. Others, however, stopped paying attention at all. “When you’re on the road, you don’t see much change compared to the time before Corona,” said Reisinger.
“We are now experiencing a cold snap and the numbers of respiratory pathogens are increasing significantly.” According to the latest report from the State Office for Health and Social Affairs (Lagus), around 38,300 people in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania visited a doctor because of a new cold in the penultimate week of November, more than in the previous two weeks. According to the information, in the last week of October there were already more than 41,400.
According to the data, the share of Corona in the underlying pathogens has grown steadily in the past few weeks. Coronaviruses recently made up the largest proportion. According to Reisinger, Corona is also increasing significantly again. This has to do with the recurring appearance of new strains. These are popular because they are more infectious. “But thank God it doesn’t make you sick.” The courses are usually mild. A large part of the population is immunized through infection or vaccination. According to Reisinger, ten patients with Covid were recently intubated across MV. He does not expect the hospitals to be overloaded.
According to Lagus, rhinoviruses recently made up the largest proportion of coronaviruses. “Rhinoviruses are nuisances, but generally do not cause serious illness,” said Reisinger. They caused cough, runny nose, hoarseness or mild fever. According to Lagus, adenoviruses came in third place among respiratory pathogens. According to Reisinger, these usually do not cause a particularly serious illness.
Reisinger expects the flu to arrive in MV in January. “Now is still the time to get vaccinated against corona and flu.” This is particularly true for older people, people with previous illnesses, people who work in hospitals or care facilities or who have a lot of contact with others. “And pregnant women should also get vaccinated. In Germany we have a vaccination rate for pregnant women against flu of around 17 percent. That is very low.” They have severe cases and newborns are also affected.
Pregnant women could also be vaccinated against RSV to protect small children. The pathogen primarily affects children aged zero to four and older people. Reisinger expects an RSV wave around Christmas time.
According to Reisinger, he still wears a mask when people cough on the train or plane. He also said: “If you are sick yourself, it makes sense to wear a mask.” It would also be possible to recommend wearing masks in hospitals again if the numbers increase significantly. At the Rostock University Medical Center, staff absences due to illness have so far been compensated for.
Meanwhile, Lagus recently recorded an above-average number of daycare children with respiratory diseases in the northeast for this time. In Western Pomerania-Rügen, for example, every fifth child at the daycare centers recorded was reported sick.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:231204-99-172863/2