2024-09-26 19:02:24
Experts see a wave of colds approaching Germany. Corona is also returning. How good is the new vaccine?
Germany coughs and sniffles. The number of respiratory illnesses has been rising again for several weeks. As can be seen from the weekly report of the Influenza Working Group at the Robert Koch Institute for the 37th calendar week (September 9th to 15th), six million Germans are currently acutely affected by a respiratory disease. Rhinoviruses are currently the most common (20 percent), followed by coronaviruses (16 percent).
These are being detected more and more frequently in wastewater from sewage treatment plants – an indication of an increasing number of infections. It is to be expected that there will be a wave of illnesses in the coming weeks, said virologist Sandra Ciesek of the German Press Agency.
It is not unusual for people to continue to become infected with the virus again and again, said Ciesek, director of the Institute for Medical Virology at the University Hospital Frankfurt. “You get respiratory diseases not just once in your life, but again and again, some every year, some every two years.” The immunity that arises from a previous infection or a vaccination decreases over time and people become susceptible to infection again.
The new corona vaccine, adapted for the upcoming winter season, has been available since mid-August. Biontech’s vaccine is called “Comirnaty JN.1”. It can be used both for a primary vaccination (if it has not yet taken place) and for a booster vaccination. The vaccine was further developed and tailored to the JN.1 variant, which has been the dominant variant in Germany since the beginning of the year. A sublineage of this omicron variant (KP3.1.1) is currently predominant in Germany. The vaccine therefore covers the current variant.
The XEC variant was detected for the first time in Germany in June. It is already widespread in 27 countries worldwide. XEC is a hybrid variant consisting of the two Omicron sub-variants KS1.1 and KP.3.3. has formed. By changing the spike protein, it can apparently bind better to human cells and is therefore considered more contagious.
The Standing Vaccination Commission recommends a booster vaccination for all people over 60 years of age, as well as residents of nursing homes, immunocompromised people and those with previous illnesses, nursing staff and people who care for a family member.
“Anyone who belongs to risk groups who do not have a healthy immune system or who could expect a severe course would be wise to get vaccinated now so that they do not become infected in the wave,” recommended Ciesek.