Vaccination protection

There are a lot of reports at the moment that there is a flu epidemic. What does that actually mean?

Dr Thomas Grünewald: A flu epidemic actually means one thing above all: that we are seeing a high number of infections caused by the flu virus. We are currently at the beginning of the flu epidemic. We still have very, very few infections in Saxony. This is already significantly higher in Germany.


People are being advised to get vaccinated because it is effective protection - should people get vaccinated now or is the real peak still to come?

We can assume that the flu epidemic will start and then peak. This means that we will see the highest infection figures after two months. If you get vaccinated now, the protection starts after a week to 14 days and lasts for three to six months. This is actually the best time to get vaccinated.


Why do people always talk about waves of flu?

The flu epidemic is so noticeable because we have a season for such pathogens. This applies not only to the flu virus, but also to other viruses that cause respiratory infections. This wave, the season, always begins when the mucous membranes are dry, when it gets colder, i.e. when the viruses can remain in the environment for longer. This is an important point. It's a biological advantage. Our mucous membranes are a little more sensitive due to the cold. They dry out, they tear, and this makes it easier for viruses to settle on the mucous membranes and cause infections.


Is the flu virus evolving?

This is precisely our problem, especially when it comes to vaccination: the viruses are changing. We all noticed during the coronavirus pandemic that the viruses have changed and new variants have emerged. This also happens every year with the flu. Even during the season, you can see that the viruses mutate so that they can cope better with humans and so that the protection we have through vaccination, for example, is cancelled out.


What would you say in comparison: During the coronavirus pandemic, there was a lot of vaccination and calls to vaccinate. Are people now tired of being vaccinated, even when it comes to the flu?

What we are seeing is that there is a lot of scepticism. Many people are disappointed because they naturally imagined - and perhaps this was communicated far too much at the beginning - that vaccination would completely solve the problem of the pandemic. But we have seen: That was not the case; instead, vaccinations are an additional point that helps to overcome a pandemic. As a result, people have turned away from vaccination to some extent. Unfortunately, this applies not only to the coronavirus vaccination but also to all other vaccinations. We see that we have many more measles cases worldwide because people are getting vaccinated less. And we're also seeing this with influenza. Vaccination numbers have fallen significantly. The scepticism that has arisen, not least due to disappointed expectations, has actually become much greater.


Can you elaborate on that?

When we get vaccinated against rabies or tetanus or tetanus, we are used to having almost 100 per cent protection against the disease afterwards. However, we have long known from vaccinations against respiratory viruses, such as the influenza virus, that we may not be able to avoid infection at all. What we do know is that we can prevent severe courses of the disease by vaccinating. That's what we experienced with corona. Much more intense at the beginning. Once the viruses had also adapted and we had to follow suit with the vaccines, we saw that it was mainly the severe courses of the disease that could be avoided, but not nearly as many of the actual infections. This is an expectation that has perhaps also been fuelled a little by the way we have communicated. We have to communicate sensibly, and that means that what we achieve with the vaccinations is a reduction in the number of serious cases of people who have to be hospitalised. This happens much less to vaccinated people, and this is also the case with influenza. But we don't have a vaccination that is so highly effective that we can prevent 100 per cent of illnesses.


What are the key figures for Chemnitz, for the Chemnitz area or perhaps even for Saxony at the moment?

We currently have a very high level of coronavirus activity again. It has risen continuously over the last eight weeks. Everyone knows the incidence rates, i.e. how many cases there are per 100,000 inhabitants. We are currently at between 30 and 45. That doesn't sound like a lot at first, but we assume that the number of unreported cases would increase by a factor of five to ten. Then we would be looking at significant incidences.

Everyone knows someone who is ill and everyone knows someone who has just been through it. In Saxony, we have a total of over 2,000 cases every week. That's quite a lot, significantly more than influenza, for example, where we always have between 20 and 30 cases, or the RSV virus. We have between ten and 60 cases per week. So that's a very clear difference. In other words, we are in the middle of a coronavirus autumn and winter wave, and we can assume that these figures will remain the same throughout this period.


Is it true that the current coronavirus variant is expected to be milder over time?

Yes, that is correct. It is de facto somewhat milder. The virus gets used to humans and tries to survive, and it survives best when it has as many people as possible to infect. That is the biological principle of a pathogen. Ergo, the pathogen naturally does not endeavour to kill its host, i.e. where it can multiply, but wants to multiply and live on. That is a very clear story. But the fact that the pathogen is now so mild also has to do with the fact that, on the one hand, many people have been infected and, on the other, that many people have been vaccinated or have a certain basic immunity. This is known as population immunity. This is very high in Saxony, but more through natural infection than through vaccination. But the effect is the same: we have a certain level of basic protection and this means that we are better able to deal with the pathogen, just as the pathogen is better able to deal with us.


In view of the wave of infections, both in relation to the flu and coronavirus, what advice would you give to the people of Chemnitz and beyond?

It makes sense for everyone who is at risk of becoming seriously ill - and these are people who are older, 70+, 80+, or who have a weakened immune system due to medication or cancer, for example - to have their vaccinations regularly refreshed so that protection against severe cases is really guaranteed. Primarily against corona, because we have very high numbers. But it also makes sense to get vaccinated against the flu. This way, immunity against the flu virus can develop after vaccination and you will have reasonable protection when the wave really gets going.


What else is important to know?

I think one very important point is that everyone has learnt to observe a bit of hygiene, for example the so-called cough etiquette. So not just coughing into the room, not into your hands, but into the crook of your elbow. That's all been lost again. It's amazing how quickly things like that are forgotten. It's not just vaccination, it's a whole bundle of measures that can help us to protect ourselves, but above all to protect others. We must show consideration for others! We have shown that we can do this during the pandemic. And that's exactly what we should continue to do. I think that's a very important, essential thing.