Almost a million more respiratory infections! Which pathogens are on the rise

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The number of people suffering from respiratory infections has increased significantly compared to the previous week. This emerges from the current weekly report from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), whose data refers to the week from December 4th to 10th (week 49).

Accordingly, nationwide

a respiratory disease.

That is 800,000 more sick people than in the previous week. When collecting the data, it made no difference whether people went to the doctor because of their illness or not.

The number of respiratory infections per 100,000 inhabitants in a week increased

The number of respiratory infections is increasing significantly

This time a year ago, the rate was even higher – lower in several of the previous years, but this may also be partly due to the Corona measures taken at the time. In the case of respiratory diseases, the development can vary considerably from season to season.

According to experts, a small catch-up effect could still play a role given the currently high levels: This means that a few more people may be infected with pathogens with which they did not come into contact or came into contact less frequently than usual during the pandemic years.

Almost one in four people is infected with Corona

The increase in respiratory diseases is due, on the one hand, to the high number of corona infections. That’s how it happened

Almost one in four (24 percent) was infected with Covid-19.

If you look at the currently relatively high proportion of Sars-CoV-2 in all respiratory infections, it is no wonder that the overall incidence is above the level of the years before the pandemic, said Dortmund immunologist Carsten Watzl of the German Press Agency. At least there is now one more pathogen for respiratory diseases.

In addition, many people become infected Rhinoviren , i.e. pathogens for classic colds. They were last week

detected in almost one in five (19 percent).

RSV infections are increasing, the flu wave has yet to begin

On the other hand, according to the RKI, the wave of infections with the Respiratorischen Synzytial Virus (RSV) started two weeks ago and has been going on ever since. Currently are

13 percent of all sick people are infected with this virus.

Since last week, flu cases have continued to increase, particularly among school children and young adults.

Influenza infections account for six percent of all respiratory infections.

The number of reports, i.e. cases of influenza confirmed in the laboratory, is still relatively low nationwide at around 1,400 for the previous week. However, it has more than doubled compared to the previous week. According to the RKI, the flu wave is yet to begin.

Immunologist: Hygiene measures during the pandemic did not harm the immune system

Furthermore, the “greater awareness in the population” also contributes to the increasing incidence, said Bremen epidemiologist Hajo Zeeb to the dpa. This also tends to manifest itself in more visits to the doctor for respiratory diseases, which could also be reflected in the statistics and the number of incapacity for work.

Watzl vehemently contradicts claims that the hygiene measures during the pandemic could have damaged the immune system. This is simply not true. “I don’t have to train my immune system through infections in order for it to be active in the first place.” The fact that avoided infections from back then are now catching up does not mean that the immune system is weakened.

Severe corona courses are not history

Despite basic immunity through vaccinations and infections in the population, severe cases are not completely a thing of the past. A corona infection can “still make you quite sick,” said Charité expert Leif Sander recently on Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB). “Even such manifestations as we saw a few years ago.” Reasons could be a recent vaccination or poor immunization.

How you can protect yourself and those around you from the rampant cold pathogens

But how can we prevent ourselves from catching a respiratory infection? We can reduce the risk of infection with the following measures:

Wear mouth and nose protection

According to the Max Planck Society, mouth and nose protection significantly reduces the risk of a corona infection. FFP2 masks in particular can prevent you or others from becoming infected.

Vaccinate

We can’t get vaccinated against colds – but we can get vaccinated against flu. The Standing Vaccination Commission advises

all people aged 60 and over, pregnant women from the second trimester onwards, chronically ill people, residents of retirement and nursing homes and those working in institutions with a lot of public traffic (e.g. hospitals and schools)

to a vaccination.

wash your hands

Cold viruses are transmitted by droplets that can survive on clothing or objects for hours – if we touch the droplets and then bring our hand to our mouth, nose or eyes, we can become infected. The Health Knowledge Foundation therefore advises:

Wash your hands several times a day to minimize the number of pathogens. This reduces the risk of infection and prevents the viruses from spreading. An alternative to washing your hands is using hand sanitizer.

Really cough

Do not cough into your hands – this can spread viruses further – but into your elbow or a tissue.