Berlin Mr. Drosten, Germany is currently being overwhelmed by a wave of infections, and the healthcare system is overburdened. Have we avoided respiratory infections for too long?
One reason for the current situation is that many people’s immunity to the common cold is no longer up to date. Normally you have contact with each pathogen group every two or three years, and then it’s quiet again. So there is always a part of the population that is not currently transmitting a certain virus. These people then become infected only superficially and excrete little virus.
But now, on average, more virus is passed on. For the individual, most diseases are still not very burdensome, but the transmission is more efficient. And this runs parallel to all pathogens. No one could predict the timing of when there would be such an accumulation as is currently the case. We have to come to terms with that now.
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