[ad_1]
The second crown wave has reached Europe. In many countries, the number of cases is increasing dramatically. In Switzerland, this prompted the Federal Council on Sunday to impose new protective measures in the fight against the virus (VIEW reported).
After a summer with comparatively low infection levels, the risk of infection is now significantly higher again. This mainly affects the so-called risk groups: older people, people with previous illnesses. This is also confirmed by pathologist Kirsten Mertz in the BLICK interview: “The coronavirus was and is a murderer”.
Data reveal low mortality
But how deadly is the virus and the associated disease Covid-19 really? A metastudy from the renowned Stanford University in the United States examined exactly that. The American researcher John Ioannidis is responsible for the study. And the professor of epidemiology and public health comes to a clear conclusion: with Covid-19, the death rate from infections is much lower than previously assumed.
Data from the meta-study showed that, on average, only 0.23 percent of people later infected with corona also die from it. In patients younger than 70 years, the value is even 0.05 percent.
WHO is also paying attention to the study
Ioannidis and her team evaluated a total of 61 studies that examined how many people or population groups in a country developed corona antibodies and were subsequently infected. Together with the number of reported deaths, it was possible to calculate the approximate mortality.
However, this value is not exactly exact, because: Not all those affected obviously develop antibodies and some also degrade them rapidly. Due to the breadth of the studies, the result is so reliable that even the World Health Organization (WHO) published the result in a bulletin.
The results of the study are not representative everywhere.
However, the relatively low death rate from infections is not a source of relief. Because Ioannidis himself emphasizes: “The death rate from infections is not a fixed constant and can vary considerably.” One of the deciding factors is the countries and regions in which people would be infected with the virus and the age structure of the population there. Therefore, the Stanford study is not representative of all regions of the world.
It depends on the respective location, the population structure and other factors in the respective region. The study is not representative of all countries and regions of the world.
As a measure to further reduce mortality, Ioannidis also recommends specific protection against the virus for risk groups. (cat)
