After almost 4 months since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have already got used to social distancing, wearing masks in the shops, working in the home office and the supervision of students by the parents and their virtual lessons. But how long will it remain like this? What can we do to recognize the risks of COVID-19 in time? How can I make sure that my colleagues, teachers, classmates or acquaintances are not contagious? When is it evident that an infection has occurred?

It can be proven in all countries that people with chronic diseases and so-called “civilisation diseases” are particularly at risk of contracting COVID-19. The main risks here are age and existing pre-existing conditions. It is precisely here that it is evident that people with reduced resistance and a weakened immune system have the greatest risk of falling ill.

It is precisely for this purpose that the team of experts at the Institute for ChronoPsychology and ChronoMedicine at Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna has developed the CORONA PREVENT programme, which shows how you can now strengthen your body, mind and family against viruses that appear in a changing environment.

This program guides you through the questions:

1. How can I recognize my own risk situation?
2. Which measures are useful for me?
3. What must I do to stay healthy in the future?

With this program we want to support you and your families to get through the crisis healthy and to use this crisis as a chance for your own health!

The health and economic effects affect the entire system, as well as companies and the entire population. The main reasons for a severe course of COVID-19 are old age and existing pre-existing conditions. In Austria alone, 20% of the population suffer from high blood pressure, 32% are overweight, 14% are obese and 600,000 people have diabetes. An estimated 400,000 people suffer from COPD, 17% suffer from inflammatory rheumatic diseases with disorders of the immune system and in many cases use immunodeficient drugs. These people, including young and working people, thus fall into the risk group of a severe course of COVID-19 infection.

Like other corona viruses, SARS-CoV-2 is particularly dangerous for elderly people or people with relevant concomitant diseases. Nevertheless, people outside these risk groups can also be infected. Therefore it is important to understand the virus in order to protect oneself from infections and to be able to take sensible preventive measures.

After MERS and SARS, the respiratory disease COVID-19 caused by the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) represents the third epidemic caused by coronaviruses (CoV) in the 21st century. While MERS and SARS usually have a basic immunity acquired in childhood, the new coronavirus encounters a completely unprepared population, which can lead to significantly more people being infected and becoming ill than with other known coronaviruses.

When COVID-19 cases outside China increased 13-fold and the number of affected countries tripled, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020.

While infections are usually asymptomatic or mild in young people, the risk of serious disease is much higher in older people and those with comorbidities.

The incubation period of a SARS-CoV-2 infection is up to 14 days, during which time infected persons are contagious even if they themselves do not show any symptoms. This characteristic favours a rapid spread. Symptoms may include fever, dry cough and muscle pain, sometimes also general fatigue or diarrhoea. In severe cases, pneumonia may develop, requiring intensive medical care.

Infections with SARS-COV-2 spread via droplet infection. The virus is detected in secretions of the nose and throat, but also in saliva, tear fluid and stool. The course of the disease varies greatly and the virus is highly infectious. It is therefore not sufficient to isolate only clinically conspicuous individuals for quarantine measures. People who may have become infected with the new coronavirus must also be tested and isolated. For these tests, as for other infectious diseases, qPCR-based or serological test procedures such as the SARS-CoV-2-qPCR direct detection of Biovis are suitable.

Die eigene Risikosituation kann mit einem Direktnachweis einer akuten Infektion oder einem  Nachweis einer zurückliegenden Infektion erkannt werden.

PCR technology plays an important role, especially in the early phase of a virus infection. In this phase viruses multiply strongly. Patients with COVID-19 infections, for example, are infectious 1-2 days before the onset of symptoms. Positive direct detection of SARS-CoV-2 from nasal or throat swabs is possible within the first 5 days of illness. Infected persons can thus be detected early and chains of infection can be interrupted. IgM antibodies are usually detected after 5-6 days. Only a nasopharyngeal swab is required for the test.

The detection test of IgM or IgG antibodies makes it possible to determine whether or not people have experienced a SARS-CoV-2 infection. If an immune reaction to the pathogen has already taken place, antibody detection indicates that immunity is present and thus a low risk of re-infection.

This statement is very important for many areas of professional and social life, such as employees in hospitals, medical practices or nursing homes.

IgM antibodies are the body’s first immune response to a viral infection and are produced in response to the viral antigen. IgM antibodies are primarily present during the early course of the disease and serve as evidence of infection with SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 disease. Positive IgM antibody detection is expected on average within 5-6 days after infection.

IgG antibodies are also formed in response to the viral antigen and serve as long-term evidence of infection with SARS-CoV-2, usually after 6-14 days. IgG-AK detection indicates a past SARS-CoV-2 infection and, according to current understanding, is associated with an immunity of several years.

IgM detection is median 5 days after onset of symptoms (IQR 3-6 days). IgA antibodies behave similarly. IgG antibodies are detectable much later. The median after onset of symptoms is 14 days (IQR 10-18).

Source: Biovis Fachinformation 04/20

Dr.med. Henning Sartor

Specialist in anaesthesiology, specialist in general medicine, specialist in orthomolecular medicine, specialist consultant for the BIOVIS Institute, diploma in modern F.X. Mayr Medicine, board member of the International Society of Mayr Doctors

Private practice and medical director of the health hotel Spanberger, medical director of the Bergmüller Institute Vienna.

Medical advisor to the Institute for ChronoPsychology and ChronoMedicine, specialist in anaesthesiology, specialist in general medicine, specialist in orthomolecular medicine.

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