In the case of suspected Marburg virus at <a href="https://time.news/marburg-suspicious-situation-at-hamburg-central-station-this-is-a-medical-student-returning-from-rwanda/" title="Marburg. Suspicious situation at Hamburg central station. This is a medical student returning from Rwanda”>Hamburg Central Station, there were errors in the way the case was handled. This has now been accepted by the Hamburg social authorities.
Hamburg’s social authorities have admitted mistakes in their handling of a suspected Marburg virus case at the main train station. For example, the contact details of fellow passengers were not recorded because the authorities only found out about the suspected virus case after the supposedly infected student and his fellow passengers got off the train at the station.
According to the information, a medical student arrived in Frankfurt am Main from Rwanda with an escort on the morning of 2 October. According to his own information, he had twice had contact with a patient in the country who was infected with the Marburg virus as part of his studies. On his way home, he informed doctors in Hamburg that he suspected an infection.
Initially, all measures were taken for isolation and transportation at Hamburg airport because the student could not be reached by phone, as announced by the spokesperson of the social authority. Authorities did not learn about the student’s train journey until the stricken train arrived at the station and the passengers disembarked.
According to the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine transmitted through close contact with infected people and bodily fluids. So far there is no specific treatment for those affected and there is no vaccine. Symptoms of infection include high fever. According to the World Health Organization the disease is often fatal.
Faster measures if you test positive for the Marburg virus
Later, only the contact details of the passengers on the same train traveling in the opposite direction to Frankfurt were found. This was because the train had been cleaned in the meantime, but not under decontamination conditions. The medical student and his companion visited several toilets on their trip to Hamburg. Due to the theoretical possibility of infection, all passengers who have used the train toilets on their journey should come to the front.
According to the spokesperson, the medical student and his companion were tested on the same evening, and the negative PCR test results were provided to the Bernhard Nocht Institute that night. The University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf informed the emergency services involved that night. The social authorities received the negative test results shortly before 9 a.m. The spokesperson emphasized that if the test was positive, the social authorities would be informed that night. Then an attempt would be made to find all contact persons using the data from Deutsche Bahn and a public appeal.
laboratory/dpa