2023-09-26 12:20:47
The corona numbers will rise again in autumn. The first countries are again imposing containment measures. What are we facing?
For a long time it seemed as if Corona was over. Now the virus shows that it never went away – and presents new “qualities”. The WHO recently warned of “worrying trends” in the northern hemisphere. And that was after the authority announced the lifting of the health emergency of international concern in May. Here you can read more about it.
The experts also provide new variants. What do we need to prepare for? How will the first Corona autumn (so far) be without conditions? t-online asked the virologist Alexander Kekulé.
t-online: Mr. Kekulé, what awaits us in autumn?
Alexander Kekulé: I expect an autumn wave of respiratory infections to begin now. Not just from Covid, but also from influenza, RSV and common cold viruses.
People generally thought: Corona is over.
No, Corona is here to stay. The new virus has now joined the old acquaintances and will continue to plague us for a long time.
Alexander Kekulé (Quelle: imago images)
Alexander Kekulé is professor of medical microbiology and virology. During the corona pandemic, numerous TV appearances and his MDR podcast “Kekulés Corona-Kompass” made him known.
How difficult can this autumn wave be?
There will be no risk to the critical infrastructure again. I also don’t expect the intensive care units to be overloaded. We definitely don’t need any new Corona measures. But one thing is clear: You can’t just let this virus run its course.
Why not? They say we have basic immunization?
That’s true, but the new variants keep tricking our immune system. Even the adapted vaccines are always one step ahead of SARS-CoV-2.
So it’s not a normal cold virus?
No, that would be a dangerous trivialization. For older people and other people at risk, Covid disease is still more dangerous than the flu. So far there is no clear seasonal pattern, as the summer wave just showed. This suggests that the population’s immunity is not yet as good as it is for the so-called colds.
Why doesn’t basic immunization really work?
A basic immunization, i.e. two vaccinations, provides little protection against new variants. If you were additionally boosted or had a corona infection, protection also extends to newly emerging variants.
At some point, our immune system understood how it can recognize similar variants, even though they are new. Just like you identify an unknown animal as a dog even though you’ve never seen the breed before. At the same time, the virus tries to escape the immune system, which is becoming increasingly clever.
And does he always succeed?
Yes, but that is the case with all pathogens with which you can become infected again every year. They are also constantly creating new variants. But that doesn’t always result in a media outcry.
Now Pirola is suddenly on the radar of worried experts. What can this variant do?
I’m not as worried as some colleagues. Most of the variants that were dramatically warned about later turned out to be epidemiological nonsense.
There is a soup of variants floating around the world, with sometimes one and sometimes the other spreading the fastest. Scaring people about every new mutation is not justified. The assignment of dangerous-sounding names is mainly the so-called virus hunters’ own PR.
BA.2.86, as Pirola is called by virologists, has many mutations and could therefore theoretically also infect those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered. But all successful variants of SARS-CoV-2 do this, otherwise there would be no more waves of infection. Fortunately, heavily mutated variants often have the handicap that they reproduce less quickly. It is unclear whether BA.2.86 can even cause a wave of infections. So far there has reportedly only been one case in Germany.
How dangerous can Pirola be?
Like all new Corona variants, which are all descendants of the less dangerous Omicron variant, BA.2.86 does not cause any more severe cases. That’s why the pandemic, in the sense of a health crisis, is over.
Nevertheless, you say: The coronavirus – regardless of whether it is Eris or Pirola – cannot be allowed to run its course like this, even this autumn, when we actually felt safe?
No, we have to continue to take Corona seriously because it is dangerous for the risk groups and we do not know how common and how severe Long Covid will be as a consequence of the current waves of infection.
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