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Switzerland is far from collective immunity
Switzerland will not achieve herd immunity against the crown virus this summer. Freiburg epidemiologist Arnaud Chiolero believes this. The virus spreads only slightly in the population due to hygiene measures.
To date, only about 10 percent of Geneva’s population has been exposed to Covid-19, according to results published Friday in the first phase of the Corona Immunitas study. “This rate is low,” but it is “in line with other studies that have been carried out around the world,” Chiolero said in an interview with the La Liberté newspaper on Saturday.
Only about 10 percent of Geneva’s population has been exposed to Covid-19, according to a study by Corona Immunitas published on Friday. Image: EPA
The researcher will direct the Freiburg section of the Corona Immunitas study launched by the Swiss University of Health (SSPH +). “It is certainly a sign that the ‘social distancing’ measures have worked,” he said. However, the rate is not supposed to be enough to prevent the epidemic from escalating again.
According to Chiolero, herd immunity is probably not achieved in the summer. For this to happen, 50 to 60 percent of the population must have been exposed to the virus and developed antibodies against an infection.
The professor of public health at the University of Freiburg calls for caution when it comes to predictions. However, all signs indicated that “the virus may reappear, as we can see in some countries that have already relaxed the restrictions.”
Trials are planned for 25,000 people
After the first phase of the Corona Immunitas study, which started in Geneva in April, a second phase is slated to begin in late May, followed by a third phase in October. The goal is to measure the presence of immunoglobulins (Ig) in the blood of hundreds of people (a total of 25,000 in Switzerland), especially IgG, “these antibodies, which are the markers of an old infection,” says Chiolero.
The question remains whether the fact that he has been contaminated with Covid-19 makes a person permanently immune to the virus. The immune system is likely to offer some protection after being exposed to the virus. But the degree and duration of this protection are uncertain, Chiolero said.
All developments in the live ticker:
Studies on this topic are ongoing, particularly at the University of Lausanne, which is also participating in the Corona Immunitas study.
On Friday it was announced that ten times more people in the canton of Geneva had been infected with the coronavirus than the number of confirmed cases suggests. As an unpublished study by the University of Geneva Clinics shows, by the end of April ten percent of the population had contracted Covid-19 lung disease. (sda)
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