Joshua Kimmich is currently unable to attend due to a corona illness. In conversation with the star explains sports physician Prof. Wilhelm Bloch, which problems the Bayern professional has acute and why he does not believe that Kimmich will play again in January.
Joshua Kimmich, who is currently suffering from Covid 19 disease, assumes that he will be fully operational again in January: healthy, fit and rested. In the league he wants to defend the championship title with FC Bayern, in the Champions League the knockout phase begins and at the end of the year the World Cup in Qatar is due – it is an important year for the footballer.
If Kimmich had completely overcome Covid 19 disease by the beginning of the year, he would have been out for around eight weeks. First he had to be in quarantine because of contact with a corona infected person, and finally he infected himself and has had problems with his lungs ever since: Kimmich had “slight infiltrations”. In other words: fluid has presumably accumulated in the bronchi and alveoli. According to his own statement, however, he feels “very good”.
Nagelsmann is very optimistic
Coach Julian Nagelsmann is also optimistic: “I’m not worried at all because the infiltration isn’t that dramatic,” said the Bayern Munich coach on Friday. The break is a safety and precautionary measure. “It’s not so dramatic that you can expect any consequential damage.”
But how realistic is the forecast? We spoke to sports medicine specialist Prof. Wilhelm Bloch from the Sport University Cologne about the Kimmich and Covid-19 cases among top athletes.
Prof. Bloch, how do you assess the Joshua Kimmich case? Can you already talk about Long Covid with him?
No, one cannot yet speak of Long-Covid in his case. Joshua Kimmich is in the post-acute Covid phase. He is now virus negative. But we have to assume that he will continue to have problems in the next few weeks. We’ll see how it develops.
Coach Julian Nagelsmann expressed himself optimistically and said that it was not so “dramatic” and that no “consequential damage can be expected”. Is the trainer right here?
No, you can’t predict that like that. The prognosis is difficult, of course many recover completely. But it depends on what kind of infiltrates it is in Kimmich’s lungs. Without knowing the exact findings, it cannot be assessed at all.
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Prof. Wilhelm Bloch heads the Institute for Circulatory Research and Sports Medicine at the Sport University Cologne and is currently researching Covid-19 in top athletes.
What happens in the lungs in such a case?
There are different types of infiltration. Most of the time, more fluid builds up when there is inflammation. The vessels become more permeable. First the immune cells come in, and with them often fluid accumulations. It is likely and it affects breathing. However, such infiltrations also recede completely.
Is the beginning of January a realistic comeback date?
That would be the optimistic option and Naglesmann would have been right. The problem is, however, that connective tissue often forms in the lungs of Covid patients. It is no longer easily degradable and can lead to pulmonary fibrosis. I’ve looked at a number of lung biopsies from Long Covid patients who are having problems over the past few weeks. They show exactly these changes in the lung tissue. These are of course the hard cases.
What’s next for Kimmich?
He must now be carefully introduced to the burden so that there are no longer-term problems. Building up your training slowly is important. There is a whole series of recommendations after Covid-19 diseases, as I presented them with colleagues in the position paper “Return to Sport”. It is important: Even if the symptoms are gone, it is advisable to approach the stress very carefully for 14 days. There will be downtime at Kimmich.
As you describe it, does a Kimmich comeback in early January sound a little too optimistic?
The doctors will make sure that the lungs heal as quickly as possible and that there is no fibrosis. But I’m skeptical that Angang will be able to play again until mid-January. It’s not that long ago. As long as he has symptoms, he cannot exercise according to our recommendations, and infiltrations are symptoms.
Professional athletes are often impatient and want to get started as soon as possible.
But especially with Covid disease, you have to tell every athlete: A lot does not help much. You have to pay attention to a dosed increase in load, otherwise there will be setbacks and the regeneration time will be unnecessarily extended. There is also the risk of becoming chronic and becoming a long-covid patient. But I assume that it will not be the case with Kimmich. He is under the best medical care. All colleagues now know how to deal with Covid 19 disease.
When do we even speak of Long Covid?
Only when Kimmich still has symptoms that limit performance after the 12th week do we speak of Long Covid.
Could Kimmich have protected himself against such a course of disease with a vaccination?
Thats is quite easy. Vaccination protects against severe courses. Unfortunately, I have to say that for Kimmich: He bears a certain degree of responsibility for his failure because he delayed the vaccination. Vaccination is the best protection against such complications that occur with Kimmich.
Can it be that top athletes underestimate the risk of Covid-19?
I believe that top athletes have now developed an awareness of the problem. At the same time they are fighters and like to push away problems or thoughts of not being quite as efficient. I recently met a European karate champion at the Medica fair, where I gave a lecture, and she portrayed it very well. She has had the disease for a year. She has not done any cardio training since then because she is incapable of doing it at all. It had a largely asymptomatic course. She told how difficult it is for an athlete to realize and accept that.
What are the most common symptoms of Long Covid?
The most common symptom is chronic fatigue syndrome. However, headaches, muscle pain and shortness of breath are also common. Or patients often suffer from attention deficit disorders.
Are there already reliable numbers of how many top athletes are affected by Long Covid.
We have to wait for the large CoSmo-S study that we and other institutes are carrying out on behalf of the Federal Institute for Sports Medicine. Then we will have reliable numbers. But we can already conclude from the study situation that basically 10 to 15 percent of Covid patients become Long Covid patients. This does not mean the patients who were hospitalized or in the intensive care unit. You can assume that they will have long-term problems for the most part.