The world’s first German virologist to detect new COVID-19 symptoms is no longer a disappointment – he was naive

An excellent example of such bias was provided by two Der Spiegel journalists who recently spoke with Professor Christian Drosten: They simply picked up this virologist advising Angela Merkel on the pandemic and accused his scientific opponents of almost malicious activity: “More harm than coronavirus deniers last year, experts who have repeatedly argued against science-based measures (quarantine restrictions – ed.) say John Schmidt-Chanasit and Hendrik Streeck. “

It was no accident that these virology professors came across a document at the end of October that proposed an alternative strategy to combat the virus: protect the most vulnerable groups instead of quarantining them for life.

The authors of the document scientifically substantiated their position, while highlighting the negative side effects of quarantine on society and the protection of health. The document was prepared and signed by many scientists, doctors and medical associations. However, an attempt was made to present the initiative as an irresponsible outburst. Several signatories, unable to withstand the moral pressure, even later withdrew their signatures.

It is wrong that the scientific discourse on pandemics in the public sphere is so polarized and politicized, because “no one can claim to have a proprietary recipe to stop this natural phenomenon,” Chic wrote in Cicero magazine last week. Drosten’s predecessor, former director of the Virology Institute of the Charité Clinics, Detlev Krüger (since 2012 he has been the editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Virus Genes, published in New York).

The Chancellor gathered around her only those who supported her

“It is unscientific to portray as if the universal truth and its custodian existed,” responded H. Streeck, director of the Institute for Virology and HIV Research at the University of Bonn, in 2019, replaced by Ch. Drosten.

In March last year, Professor H. Streeck and his team studied the mechanisms of transmission and action of the coronavirus in the city of Gangelt, the first site of the COVID-19 outbreak in Germany, and their study received a wide international response.

But now that the prime minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet, wanted to bring the virologist from Bonn to a meeting on the coronavirus in Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel did not want to see him, probably because the scientist questioned his austerity strategy.

Recently, Chancellor Merkel has often been accused of “mobilizing only the advisers who support her on her hard road in the coronavirus crisis.” And scientists warning of the consequences of a strict quarantine are being ignored, Focus magazine commented.

“It is not the duty of politicians to listen to more than one position,” Streeck made no secret of his disappointment in an interview with Die Welt last weekend. “I was naive about political decisions and the role of science in politics,” he admitted. – I thought you were acting in broad consultation. I would not have suspected that there is much agreement behind the scenes that the scientific interest in exploring an object can be so politicized. “

The pandemic is accompanied by an “infodemic”: incitement to fear

From the beginning, the optimistic 43-year-old scientist countered Professor Ch. For Drosten, the horror images of Wuhan and Bergamo did not cause him panic. Perhaps because the doctor was hardened by work in the South African city of Sovet, where the surgical emergency room of the country’s largest hospital sometimes had to close because doctors could no longer receive bleeding patients even though shifts lasted up to 36 hours.

“Along with the pandemic an infodemic began”, Streeck threw a pebble into the garden of journalists, lacking a greater diversity of opinions in the political and scientific debate.

The informational aspect of the pandemic is also critically evaluated by D. Krüger, editor-in-chief of Virus Genes, professor of virology: Harnessing the power of images, journalists closely observe intensive care units, coffins in crematoria. But fear and horror should not become the determining factor in our life. We need a business debate in science and society. What we need is not intimidated and regulated citizens, but a well-informed society with members capable of acting responsibly. “

Krüger pointed out that in public discourse and even in daily official statistics, positive test cases for SARS-CoV-2 are reported as COVID-19 cases, but COVID-19 is a disease and people who test positive for the test may have no symptoms and not even necessarily be infectious. Therefore, political decisions, according to the professor, should be made only on the basis of cases of illness and hospitalization, as well as the capacity of the clinics.

As soon as death is discussed, everyone immediately falls silent.

“We must take the coronavirus seriously, not underestimate it. But it is a virus that we can learn to deal with,” Streeck said.

In the Gangelt Coronavirus study, he was the first in the world to identify and describe symptoms such as loss of taste and smell. In addition, the study surprised by the low mortality rate of those infected (0.37%), since much more terrifying figures were in the spring of last year.

However, government advisor Ch. After public criticism of Drosten’s young colleague’s study, a wave of negative evaluations and denigrations spread. They apparently did not want to hear the news that the virus is not as sowing as it is fearsome, says Streeck in his recent book Hotpost: Leben mit dem neuen Coronavirus, which describes his experience in these years marked by the coronavirus.

During that time, a large number of studies on mortality from infections have emerged, and they also provide similar figures, Streeck said in response to a question from Die Welt about whether their research has been validated.

In addition, the average age of cattle or cattle deaths in Germany is 84 years, which is even higher than the national average, Krüger recalled in Cicero magazine.

And mortality, based on all cases of coronavirus infection, ranges from 0.05 to 0.75 percent in most studies worldwide, he said.

But why not want to hear that positive news? To this question from Die Welt, Mr. Streeck responded with the subtext: “As soon as there is a discussion in the case of death, everyone is silent. And if Mark Söder (Prime Minister of Bavaria – ed.) Says that every death is a small stab in his heart, he is right, but at the same time it is the end of the debate. “

Much is said about the long-term effects of livestock, little about the long-term consequences of quarantine.

Another case of dramatization, according to H. Streeck, is the long-term consequences of a covid, medically called “Long Covid.” “It is suggested that almost everyone has long-term consequences. According to The Lancet (medical journal – ed.), This is estimated to happen in up to 70 percent of patients. And in fact, the article writes about it. But a closer look at the text reveals that it speaks to 76 percent of those who were hospitalized and even intubated. So it is not about the many people who were sick, but about those who were not in the hospital “, explained the virologist There are always sad exceptions, but it is necessary to look at the prevailing trends.

The Bonn virologist is also hampered by the fact that Long Covid is talked about even if he feels tired and weak for a long time after illness.

“But people with severe pneumonia, and these patients have had it, on average, it takes half a year to stand up. You will not be able to run a marathon alone after leaving the hospital; this is not the case. Therefore, the descriptions of these individual cases distort the situation. They only increase the fear of the virus, “concludes H. Streeck.

Ultimately, concentrating on a particular virus is unacceptable to him, the virologist. According to the scientist, in this pandemic it is necessary to see the side of the long-term damage caused by quarantine: how it destroys the foundations of human existence.

Pediatricians, psychologists, sociologists should talk about this.

“It is important not to lose sight of the big picture, we must all consider together what is the best way to deal with this pandemic,” he said.

Human self-esteem is affected by the knowledge that they cannot stop the virus

He is more interested not so much in the structure of the virus itself, but in how a person reacts to it, admits H. Streeck. In his book Hotspot, he also describes the different attitudes of people towards the virus: there was a calm trust among those who were infected but did not feel any symptoms; those who lost loved ones to the coronavirus reacted very differently; there are also those who “have not been exposed to the virus but have formed an unshakable opinion about it.”

According to H. Streeck, the self-esteem of such a technologically advanced person is offended by the knowledge that we will not be able to eradicate such a small virus in the near future. This leads to various strategies for maximum virus control, such as Zero Covid or No Covid. However, such strategies are considered a utopia by the scientist, “unless Germany is permanently blindly isolated from the rest of the world.”

Even more skeptical about wanting to take full control of the virus, says Krüger, a professor of virology, who said that CoV-2 transmission would stop unless it was completely isolated using a “full-body condom.”

Both scientists do not believe that it is possible to get rid of the virus soon. And the quarantine, according to H. Streeck, is like an artificial dam: when it rises, the virus will not flow in all directions.

So we have no choice but to learn to live with the virus. “It just came to our knowledge then. However, recognizing that the virus will not be eradicated, it soon becomes clear that the number of infections cannot be our sole criteria.”

Because we will have a large number of infections for a long time, there will be more infections in the fall, depending on the success of the vaccination campaign.

“Viruses and bacteria are not allowed to dictate our lives; there are a lot of them,” says H. Streeck, professor of virology, an optimistic man.