COVID-19

https://www.thieme-connect.de/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/a-1813-9778

Effectiveness of mandatory Covid-19 tests for in-classroom teaching as a containment measure in the pandemic.

In Bavaria, mandatory testing at schools was implemented directly after the Easter vacations in 2021. For the first week after the vacations, this resulted in a natural experiment that allowed us to quantify the impact of the new testing strategy on reported Covid-19 cases. We can conclude that in-class teaching with mandatory testing in reopened schools changes the role of schools in the pandemic. Our analyses show that reopening schools with a mandatory testing approach is beneficial from an epidemiologic perspective as it can strongly reduce the dark figure of COVID-19 cases among children.

https://doi.org/10.1002/bimj.202100125

A statistical model for the dynamics of COVID-19 infections and their case detection ratio in 2020

The case detection ratio of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections varies over time due to changing testing capacities, different testing strategies, and the evolving underlying number of infections itself. We present a way of quantifying these dynamics by jointly modeling the reported number of detected COVID-19 infections with nonfatal and fatal outcomes. Our modeling approach can be used to quantify the effect of different testing strategies, visualize the dynamics in the case detection ratio over time, and obtain information about the underlying true infection numbers, thus enabling us to get a clearer picture of the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyze German data from 2020.

https://doi.org/10.1002/bimj.202000143

Nowcasting fatal COVID-19 Infections and Hospitalisations in Germany and in Bavaria

We analyse the temporal and regional structure in mortality rates related to COVID-19 infections. We relate the fatality date of each deceased patient to the corresponding day of registration of the infection, leading to a nowcasting model, which allows us to estimate the number of present-day infections that will, at a later date, prove to be fatal. The numbers are broken down to the district level in Germany. Given that death counts generally provide more reliable information on the spread of the disease compared to infection counts, which inevitably depend on testing strategy and capacity, the method allowed us to obtain reliable insight into the current state of the pandemic in Germany already in the early stages of spring 2020, when there was still little detailed data available.
The same method was applied to nowcast hospitalisations, when this data was made availalbe for Bavaria.
A dashboard shows the current nowcast of deaths per day for Germany by date of infection detected by PCR test and the estimated number of hospitalisations in Bavaria.

Dashboard: https://corona.stat.uni-muenchen.de/nowcast/

https://www.covid19.statistik.uni-muenchen.de/pdfs/misclassification.pdf

Analysis of COVID-19 case numbers: adjustment for diagnostic misclassification on the example of German case reporting data

Reported COVID-19 case numbers depend substantially on testing strategy. We evaluated the impact of misclassification in COVID-19 diagnostics on reported case numbers when test activity changes over time and developed a statistical adjustment of reported case numbers for erroneous diagnostic results that facilitates a misclassification-adjusted real-time estimation of the epidemic curve based on nowcasting. We applied the method to data from Germany in summer 2020 and found that the increase of cases starting in July 2020 might have been smaller than indicated by raw case counts, but cannot be fully explained by increasing numbers of false-positives due to increased testing. The effect of misclassification becomes negligible when true incidence is high.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10182-021-00433-5

Regional now- and forecasting for data reported with delay: A case study in COVID-19 infections

Covid-19 cases are reported with delay to a central register, with this delay deferring an up-to-date view of the state of things. However, it would be crucial for policymakers to have a firm grasp on what the current state of the pandemic is as well as to have an idea of how the infective situation is going to unfold in the next days. We provide a stable tool for monitoring current infection levels as well as predicting infection numbers in the immediate future at the regional level. We accomplish this through nowcasting of cases that have not yet been reported as well as through forecasting of future infections. The two steps are also combined in forenowcasting. We apply our methode to German data, for which our focus lies in explaining and predicting infectious behaviour by district, age group and gender.

Exploring excess mortality of Covid-19

We analyse excess-mortality in Germany and its states as well as in different European countries and US in 2020 in comparison to previous years, standardising by the population structure.

Exploring regional differences of the spread of the disease in Germany.

We model regional infection rates assessing the effect of different regional socio-demographic and climatic determinants on a district level.

Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Socioeconomic, Life Styles, Health, and Healthcare Utilization in Bangladesh

The study assesses the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on Bangladesh’s adult population and healthcare providers focusing on physical and mental health, socioeconomic conditions, and life styles.

https://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/aktuelles/news/projekt_heydenreich/index.html

Containment Measures in Epidemics: Fundamentals and Evaluation

In this project two mathematicians and one epidemiologist will put their forces together to understand the fundemantal dynamics behind the spread of epidemics. The key result will be a thorough theoretical and empirical treatment of a newly developed class of models that account explicitly for social structures as well as the mobility of individuals. The interplay of these two factors has not been recongnised and studied before, and the findings will enable us to perform a fine evaluation of the effectiveness of containment measures. More specifically, we plan to perform a theoretical treatment that allows us to understand complex models and to derive essential properties in a formal way. Besides the theoretical analysis in terms of asymptotic behaviour, we design simulation studies to explore the relationship between system behaviour in finite populations compared to its asymptotic properties. It is also a fundamental question to undestand how well certain system parameters can be estimated from available data (‚model calibration‘).

lauseker@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Estimation of the length of hospital stay

We aim to use a multi-state model to estimate the lengths of stay of COVID-19 patients in the different wards (general, IMC, ICU) and to estimate the transitions in between and to the stages of "death" and "discharge" model.

Prognostic significance of LP(a) in COVID-19 (CORKUM Project 31).

To investigate the prognostic significance of Lp(a) levels in COVID-19 patients with regard to death and ventilation. will be investigated

Inequality in SARS-CoV-2 incidences, mortality and fatality rates

Inequality in SARS-CoV-2 incidence, mortality, and fatality rates over time for different regions was considered. Absolute and relative Gini and Theil indices were calculated for this purpose. Indices were calculated for all continents and the countries of the European Union (EU) and the states of the United States USA). The focus of the paper is the comparison of inequality between the EU and the USA. The results were published in PLoS One.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33984055/

manz@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de mansmann@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Regional monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 infections by means of standardized case fatality rates

Within the scope of this project, the concept of a standardized case fatality rate (sCFR) is introduced. The regional sFFR can be estimated as the quotient of the regional standardized mortality and case rate and be presented in maps. Such maps are generated based on the Bavarian SARS-CoV-2 reporting data for different time periods and the time-varying regional heterogeneity observed therein is interpreted. The dashboard (link) shows the main result. The results have been submitted to Bundesgesundheitsblatt.

manz@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de mansmann@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Regional and temporal trends in SARS-CoV-2 associated mortality in Bavaria

The project will visualize regional and temporal heterogeneity of SARS-CoV-2 associated mortality in Bavaria. It will further investigate the influence of regional factors on SARS-CoV-2 associated mortality. The results have been submitted to Das Gesundheitswesen.

manz@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de mansmann@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Distributional challenges regarding data on death and incidences during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic up to July 2020

In this contribution we discussed the fat-tail patterns in the distribution of the global COVID-19 data by analyzing data from 66 countries worldwide. We also explored their relevance at a lower, regional scale perspective (national, federal state), which is in our opinion more relevant for planning measures against the epidemic spread. For this we analyzed data from the German federal state of Bavaria during the first wave in spring 2020. A preprint of the work can be found in MedRXiv and the dataset and the R code are available at the IBE website.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.24.20161257v1

manz@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de mansmann@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Impact of social deprivation on SARS-CoV-2 incidence and mortality rates

In this project, the impact of Bavarian Index of Multiple Deprivation (BIMD) and its subdomains on standardized incidence rates (SIR) and standardized mortality rates (SMR) in Bavaria is investigated. The SIR and SMR are estimated simultaneously using a bivariate Bayeasian hierarchnical model. The project is carried out in collaboration with Helmholtz Zentrum München.

https://www.helmholtz-muenchen.de/igm/das-institut/index.html

manz@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de mansmann@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Mapping regional differences in coronavirus (COVID-19) infection rates: results of a Bayesian smoothing over regions of Bavaria

In this project, we present a method from geographic epidemiology and investigate its applicability to standardized SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates for Bavarian reporting data. The infection course is described descriptively and illustrated using maps.

verena.loidl@med.uni-muenchen.de mansmann@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de manz@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Influence of regional factors on standardized SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates in Bavaria

This project investigates the influence of different regional factors on standardized SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates (SIR) for different age groups over time in Bavaria. A further focus of the analysis will be the border with foreign countries. This is to identify possible effects of border closures.

verena.loidl@med.uni-muenchen.de mansmann@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de manz@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

IBE Corona Dashboard Bavaria

The current daily figures from the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety will be presented on the dashboard. Incidence and death rates and hospital admissions are shown as curves over time. Individual districts can be selected and compared with the rest of Bavaria on a map.

https://covid19.ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de/

Public health and health services research back to top ▲

EU-STOA panel study

Resilience amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the European Union - Psychosocial and mental health consequences, risk and protective factors, and policy options for European Union Member States and their citizens (ongoing) In cooperation with Leibniz-Institut für Resilienzforschung

https://lir-mainz.de/lir

coenen@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

CEOsys, mental health theme

Mental burden and its risk and protective factors during the early phase of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: systematic review and meta-analyses

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33781283/

coenen@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de, burns@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Cooperation with ‘COSMO’ – population-based COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring: physical activity

Physical Activity during COVID-19 in German Adults: Analyses in the COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring Study (COSMO)

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/507

coenen@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de, cjungsievers@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Cooperation with ‘COSMO’ – population-based COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring: psychosicial situation of children

Psychosocial situation of children measured with the SDQ questionnaire in different phases the COVID-19 pandemic: Analyses in the COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring Study (COSMO)

coenen@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de, cjungsievers@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Cooperation with ‘COSMO’ – population-based COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring: well-being of adults

Wellbeing of adults measured with the WHO-5 Wellbeing questionnaire in different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic: Analyses in the COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring Study (COSMO)

coenen@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de, cjungsievers@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Cooperation with ‘COSMO’ – population-based COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring: burden on parents

Parental burden in different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic: Analyses in the COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring Study

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00103-021-03453-3

coenen@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de, cjungsievers@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Cooperation with ‘COSMO’ – population-based COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring: alcohol and tobacco consumption

Analysis of health behaviors such as smoking and alcohol consumption over different COVID-19 pandemic phases: Analyses in the COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring Study (COSMO)

coenen@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de, cjungsievers@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

SoNAR Global "COVID-19 Vulnerability Assessment and Community Engagement"

Cooperation with the Rachel Carson Center at LMU Munich as part of the HORIZON 2020 project 'A Global Social Sciences Network for Infectious Threats and Antimicrobial Resistance' (ongoing)

https://www.sonar-global.eu

coenen@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

CEOsys, public health theme

Rapid review on the effectiveness of non-pharmacological measures implemented in the setting of long-term care facilities to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections and their adverse consequences (ongoing)

https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD015085/full?highlightAbstract=facil%7Cterm%7Cfacilities%7Cfaciliti%7Clong%7Ccare

burns@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

CEOsys, public health theme: S3 guidelines for schools

Evidence-based S3 Guideline on measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission in school settings

https://www.awmf.org/leitlinien/detail/ll/027-076.html

rehfuess@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

CEOsys, public health theme: Measures implemented in the school setting to contain the COVID-19 pandemic

A scoping review and a full review have been conducted and published and an update is ongoing.

https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD013812/full

https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD015029/full

shari.krishnaratne@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de, hannah.littlecott@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de, pfadenhauer@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

B-FAST "Schools and child-care facilities"

Psychosocial aspects of children in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in cooperation with the B-FAST project team (ongoing)

https://www.bmbf.de/de/karliczek-netzwerk-universitaetsmedizin-startet-vertiefte-forschungsarbeit-zu-covid-19-12649.html

cjungsievers@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

COVID Kids Bavaria Study

Health-related Quality of Life and psychosocial aspects in children in the course of the COVID 19 pandemic; cooperation with the COVID Kids Bavaria Team (ongoing)

https://www.covid-kids-bavaria.de/

coenen@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de, cjungsievers@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Mental Health of Children and Adolescents

Interventions to ameliorate the psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children – a systematic review

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2361

coenen@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de, cjungsievers@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Primary study investigating health effects and experiences of university students participating in online teaching

In cooperation with Katholische Stiftungshochschule München Factors influencing study engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study among health and social professions students (under review) Health and social science students experience high levels of psychological stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic: results of a cross-sectional study at Munich universities

coenen@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de skus@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de kristina.schroepfer@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

CEOsys, topic area Public Health - travel-related control measures

Travel-related control measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic: We began by producing an evidence map to gain an overview of the topic (see link), followed by a rapid review, for the WHO and in collaboration with Cochrane, to assess the effectiveness of these measures. We recently completed the first update of this rapid review (see link), and published a related commentary article (see link). In a subsequent scoping review, the empirical evidence on unintended health and societal consequences of such measures was identified and mapped (see link).

ani.movsisyan@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de burns@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de cklinger@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions

A Bayesian-hierarchichal approach to estimate the effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions and to model the COVID-19 pandemic in Bavaria

shoffmann@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

The use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in patients with COVID-19

Rapid review requested by WHO and undertaken by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Evidence-Based Public Health

pphilipsborn@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

INTEGRATE-COVID: Criteria to guide evidence-informed decision-making on non-pharmacological interventions targeting COVID-19

Advancing and adapting the WHO-INTEGRATE framework through a comprehensive document analysis

https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/11/e003699.info

stratil@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Scientific expert committees in public health policymaking during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany

A document analysis examining the composition of 21 expert committees at state and federal level

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1865921721001136

Young Scientist Paper Award 2021 der Zeitschrift für Evidenz, Fortbildung und Qualität im Gesundheitswesen

pfadenhauer@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de ksell@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Coordination and contributions towards the Competence Network Public Health on COVID-19

An association of more than 20 scientific societies, to bundle their expertise for public authorities, institutes and policy-makers

https://www.public-health-covid19.de/

Corona Infection Risk Surveillance (CORIMO)

Non-interventional case-control study. The objective is to assess which activities and circumstances were more common in corona-infected persons compared to individuals in which the test was negative.

https://www.ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de/forschung/corimo/index.html

mansmann@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de vhoffmann@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Infection in the Representative COVID-19 Cohort Munich

In the Prospective COVID-19 Cohort Munich (KoCo19), the seroprevalence (antibodies) was measured in 3,000 households and was compared with the reported incidence. Risk factors and mortality were also examined.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/7/3572

ludwig.Hinske@med.uni-muenchen.de

An expert prediction on how the COVID-19 pandemic will develop in Europe.

An international expert group with the participation of Prof. Eva Grill is attempting to forecast the theSARS-COV-2 epidemic in Europe for autumn and winter 2021 as well as for the coming years.

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lanepe/PIIS2666-7762%2821%2900162-9.pdf

Calling for a mutual European strategy against the COVID-19 pandemic

An international group of experts with the participation of Prof. Eva Grill summarizes how the pandemic in Europe should continue to be tackled. It is essential to pursue a clear and consistent strategy throughout Europe and to communicate it in an understandable, timely and continuous manner in order to keep the economic and social costs for Europe and for the world as low as possible.

peters@helmholtz-muenchen.de

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on self-reported general and mental health

Within the German National Cohort Health Study (https://nako.de/), data of > 100 000 participants who reported on their health status during spring 2020 were analyzed. Compared to the baseline examination a few years prior, there was an increase of stress, depressive symptoms and anxiety, especially among women and participants younger than 60 years of age. However, a third of the participants estimated to be at better general health compared to the baseline exam. These findings show that during the first wave of the pandemic and its countermeasures (Closing of schools, restrictions of social contacts, etc) symptoms of psychological burden increased and assessment of the individual health state changed. Furthermore, a third of participants reported feeling lonely; for half of those, the pandemic had increased their feeling of loneliness. Additionally, loneliness was associated with worse mental health. The results obtained so far have been published in Deutsches Ärzteblatt and Bundesgesundheitsblatt (DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.2020.0861, DOI: 10.1007/s00103-021-03393-y).

CovGenAir: The role of chronic diseases, environmental and genetic influences on the infection with SARS-CoV-2: boosters, effect modifiers or mediators? (2021-2024)

The aim of COVGENAIR is to assess the role of chronic diseases, environmental and genetic variation and their interplay on the infection with SARS-CoV-2 in three comprehensively phenotyped longitudinal cohort studies from Germany covering different regions and age groups. Through antibody measurements against the SARS-Cov-2 virus, the assessment of weekly symptoms as well as re-examinations in all three cohorts, we will contribute to the elucidation of the environmental and molecular pathways, which could increase the risk of a SARS-CoV-2 infection, identify susceptible subjects and determine the long-term post-COVID-19 health outcomes on the respiratory, cardiometabolic and neurological system. In particular, we will be able to investigate: (a) the prevalence of a SARS-CoV-2 infection in our cohorts within different risk groups, (b) disentangle the association between air pollution and a SARS-CoV-2 infection, (c) identify susceptible subgroups in the population who might be particularly vulnerable for an infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and (d) investigate the long-term health effects of an infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in our study population.

https://www.helmholtz-munich.de/epi/research/research-groups/environmental-risks/projects/covgenair/index.html

peters@helmholtz-muenchen.de

Influence of air quality on the expected burden on the health care system in the event of pandemics

The project aims to model the inter-relationship between environmental stressors and virus-borne infections as well as the relative lockdown effects via contact rates and versus alterations in air quality. Moreover, we will analyze the association between changes in air quality and other (non-COVID-19 associated) respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. This project will help assess which air pollutants need to be reduced to not further aggravate the spread of a pandemic or epidemic.

susanne.breitner@lmu.de

AIR-LOCK: Effect of air pollution reductions on mortality during the COVID-19 lockdown: A natural experiment study

This multi-country study will evaluate whether changes in mortality are associated with changes in ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels before, during, and after COVID-19 lockdowns and disentangle the short-term effects of NO2 versus PM2.5 on mortality. The analysis will be conducted in four countries: China, Germany, Italy, and the United States.

https://ysph.yale.edu/climate/research/chen-lab/air-lock/

susanne.breitner@lmu.de

Improving the implementation of school measures for the prevention and control of COVID-19 in Bavaria.

The aim of the study is to explore the experiences made in Bavarian schools with the implementation and adaptation of infection and adaptation of infection control measures in Bavarian schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, lessons learned and recommendations on measures to be taken during epidemic events in schools. This will be done via a mixed-method study in Bavarian schools.

pfadenhauer@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Digital infection surveillance back to top ▲

SARS-CoV-2 Infection Surveillance (SCOVIS)

SCOVIS is the Sars Cov Infection Surveillance of Klinikum München and helps to track infection events in the clinic. Here you can enter employees with different infection status and the corresponding contact persons. A pre-filled registration form for the RGU can also be downloaded.

ludwig.Hinske@med.uni-muenchen.de Andrea.Beckerpennrich@med.uni-muenchen.de

Corona Patient Manager (CoPaMa) Dashboard

CoPaMa stands for Corona Patient Manager of the Munich Clinic and shows the patients currently on the ward including their diagnoses and tests (PCR and antibodies). Descriptive statistics add how busy the stations are.

ludwig.Hinske@med.uni-muenchen.de Andrea.Beckerpennrich@med.uni-muenchen.de

Privacy-protecting, reliable response data discovery and federated analysis using COVID-19 patient observations (R2D2)

The R2D2 (Reliable Response Data Discovery for COVID-19) consortium is a distributed federated network which is currently composed of 14 health systems (13 in the USA and one in Germany - LMU of Munich). By transforming electronic health record (EHR) data or COVID-19 registry data of 3,461,626 patients tested for SARS-CoV-2 and 327,976 diagnosed with COVID-19 into the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership Common Data Model, the network developed processes and implemented distributed algorithms (e.g. multivariate distributed logistic regression) to produce and aggregate answers to a variety of COVID-19-related questions posted at https://www.covid19questions.org. In an individual and institutional privacy-preserving manner, the R2D2 consortium demonstrated that it is possible to answer questions about COVID-19 using EHR data from systems that have different policies and must follow various regulations, without moving data out of their health systems.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34051088/

larissa.neumann@med.uni-muenchen.de ludwig.Hinske@med.uni-muenchen.de ben.geisler@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Influence of Age, Gender, Race and Ethnicity on COVID-19 Symptoms Beyond Three Weeks

This project, which is based on R2D2 (see above), uses federated analysis to carry out a logistic regression of 48,000 patients in six U.S. centers in order to determine the influence of age, gender, race and ethnicity on certain Long-Covid symptoms.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256660

Education and income levels determine whether the corona tracing app is used

The study supports the hypothesis of a digital divide that distinguishes users and non-users of the German corona tracing app “Corona Warn app”. This analysis of the COSMO data showed that socio-demographic factors such as education, income and region of residence influence whether the app has been downloaded and whether there is a willingness to use its functions. In addition to the consistent explanation of the functions and usefulness of the app, the implementation strategies should also be constantly reconsidered.

Commentary on Corona Warning Apps

An international group of experts with the participation of Prof. Eva Grill formulates criteria for the success of corona tracing apps. High user numbers, fast and accurate detection of risks, a transparent analysis of the of the effectiveness and accessibility even for digitally unskilled population groups are key criteria for successful apps.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-82810-3

Medical care from COVID-19 back to top ▲

Investigation of risk factors for disease severity among young COVID-19 patients from Wuhan, China

This project focused on identifying risk factors for a severe disease course in young COVID-19 patients. Using classical analysis techniques and machine learning methods we analyzed clinical, demographic, treatment and laboratory measurements from COVID-19 patients with clinical outcome in a single hospital in Wuhan, China. The analysis was performed for all patients and separately for young (n=762) and elderly (n=714) patients in order to identify risk factors for a severe disease course that are pre-dominately relevant in young patients. The protein complement C3 showed the greatest difference in importance between young and elderly patients. Elevated levels of complement C3 seem to be associated with the risk of developing severe COVID-19 in young patients, whereas no such influence seems to exist for elderly patients.

hornung@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

ACEI-COVID

Discontinuation versus continuation of renin-angiotensin-system inhibitors in COVID-19 (ACEI-COVID): a prospective, parallel group, randomised, controlled, open-label trial

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34126053/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wkCNysQKWE

IL-6-Hemmer und Baricitinib bei schwerem COVID-19

Benjamin Geisler interviews Professor Frederick Southwick of the University of Florida. They discuss two new groups of therapies for severe COVID-19: IL-6 inhibitors (such as tocilizumab) and baricitinib. Follow along as we review how they stimulate the immune system, what their indications are and what the evidence behind of those is, and what superinfections they might cause.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rQKMD_5po0

COVID-19 Drugs for Inpatients

Ben Geisler reviews the current treatments for hospitalized COVID-19 patients. He first discusses unspecific treatments: the management of fluid replacement and diuretics, as well as the indications for bronchodilators, antibiotics, and statins. He next reviews the current indications for the agents of proven efficacy: dexamethasone/steroids, remdesivir, baricitinib, tocilizumab/IL-6 inhibitors, and VTE prophylaxis. Finally he discusses the ethical dilemma of equipoise and the best resources for staying up to date with this ever changing topic.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33962652/

Repurposing existing medications for coronavirus disease 2019: protocol for a rapid and living systematic review

Given that drug development takes time, this review aims to identify existing medications for other indications that could be repurposed for SARS-CoV-2. In particular, we are interested in pre-clinical and early clinical evidence for compounds that have an effect on SARS-CoV-1 and MERS.

ben.geisler@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de ludwig.Hinske@med.uni-muenchen.de

Higher procoagulatory potential but lower DIC score in COVID-19 ARDS patients compared to non-COVID-19 ARDS patients

This retrospective study included intubated COVID-19 patients admitted with the diagnosis of ARDS to the ICU. The goal was to compare coagulation and inflammation parameters in patients with ARDS due to SARS-CoV-2 infection versus patients with ARDS due to other causes.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32891904/

ludwig.Hinske@med.uni-muenchen.de

A Simplified Point-of-Care Lung Ultrasound Protocol to Detect Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Inpatients: A Prospective Observational Study

In this study, we assessed the diagnostic performance of lung point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) compared to either a positive nucleic acid test (NAT) or a COVID-19-typical pattern on computed tomography (CT) and to evaluate opportunities to simplify a POCUS algorithm. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.19.21254974v1

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.19.21254974v1

bstrahwald@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de schli@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de berger@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Teaching, lectures and events back to top ▲

PSPH COVID-19 Course

The M.Sc./M.P.H. course (July-August 2020) aimed at learning by teaching, a method in which students are made to learn material and prepare lessons to acquire skills like project management along with the subject matter. The main goal was to create learning units on Covid-19 related topics in the field of epidemiology or public health as a basis for an online course. The students worked in teams of 2-3.

Mansmann vs. Bhakdi: Corona already over?

The corona virus pandemic divides Germany. Some are in favor of strict measures such as a mask mandate. Others demonstrte for freedom. Tina Gerhäusser spoke with scientists Ulrich Mansmann and Sucharit Bhakdi gesprochen. In terms of corana virus, they are not in complete agreement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWOLsC31grI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96dTTTHLcYM

Corona Lectures at LMU - "Covid-19 in the Fall of 2020: Analyzing Risks and Consequences"

In his Corona Lecture, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Mansmann presents epidemiological tools which can help with weighing risks and harms. Among other topics, he deals with the comparison between Covid-19 and influenza/flu as well as the frequent question whether there are other, more harmful diseases in Germany which we take for granted and which do not change our everyday life.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34557996/

Virtual panel on health economic principles during the COVID-19 pandemic

A virtual expert panel was conducted which met to attempt a consensus on how existing principles of economic evaluation should be applied to therapeutics that emerge in a pandemic setting, with specific focus on severe, hospitalized cases of COVID-19. (paper under review)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhMQogcDK1o

Control of the pandemic - Gerd Antes visits LMU

Numbers and data play a major role in the Covid-19 pandemic. Are the correct numbers chosen to assess the course of the pandemic? Are there sufficient data to decide on pandemic measures? How can gaps in the evidence be filled? Prof. Dr. Gerd Antes' lecture on March 10, 2021 took place as part of the FORUM COVID-19 series of events organized by the Pettenkofer School of Public Health.

bstrahwald@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Vaccinate - Yes? No? Maybe? Are there any truths to the arguments against corona vaccination?

The decision to get vaccinated should not be based on misinformation, but on scientific facts and should be well-informed. To make it easier for anyone who is undecided to get inform themselves and distinguish which arguments are scientifically based and which are not, this text looks at Claims commonly used against corona vaccination.

/07_medizin/07dp_ibe_neu/covid-19/impfungen.pdf

J.Weidkamp@campus.lmu.de mansmann@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Workshop "Covid-19 in clinical and epidemiological studies"

Joint autumn workshop of the working groups" Statistical Methods in Medicine "(IBS-DR)," Statistical Methods in Epidemiology "(IBS-DR, DGEpi)," Statistical Methodology in Clinical Research "(GMDS) and" Epidemiological Methods "( DGEpi, GMDS, DGSMP) As invited speakers, we welcomed Prof. Dr. Joerg Hasford (LMU Munich), Dr. Cornelia Ursula Kunz (Boehringer Ingelheim), Prof. Dr. Sylvia Thun (Berlin Institute for Health and Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences) and Prof. Dr. Karl Lackner (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) win. Prof. Dr. Hasford spoke on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on drug trials and shed light on the EMA's position on the issue. Miss Dr. Kunz spoke about the possibilities of adaptive designs in dealing with the problems caused by COVID-19 in clinical studies. Prof. Dr. Thun presented the "German Corona Consensus core dataset". Prof. Lackner discussed the influence of SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics on the data on the course of the pandemic. There were also 13 submitted presentations.

https://www.unimedizin-mainz.de/smde/herbstworkshop-2020.html

vhoffmann@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Coronavirus - Epidemiologist expects sharp rise in infections

The following questions were on the focus of the 11-minute conversation: How will the epidemic evolve in the fall and winter? How can schools be kept open despite rising incidences? Are vaccinated people really in a situation sorglas to enjoy life? What measures should guide our decisions as the epidemic continues to develop? What will happen to typical colds in the winter?

Podcast download as mp3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah0ZoO8Fx_k

FORUM COVID-19: The communication of risk and uncertainty in the pandemic | Odette Wegwarth

Prof. Dr. Odette Wegwarth at the FORUM COVID-19 event of the Pettenkofer School of Public Health (www.psph-munich.de) on September 22, 2021. In her lecture, she will present the latest findings from her research, such as the communication of scientific uncertainties in the Corona pandemic succeeds. How do corona numbers have to be processed so that citizens understand them? How does communication influence the acceptance of measures? When are people more willing to be vaccinated? Lecture in German

Symposium of the Public Health Future Forum

The 5th symposium of the Public Health Future Forum will take place on June 29-30, 2022, at the Umweltforum in Berlin and will focus on lessons learned from the pandemic to address upcoming and future challenges for public health in Germany.

https://zukunftsforum-public-health.de/symposien/symposium-2022/

kgeffert@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de ksell@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de pphilipsborn@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de

Statistical analysis of COVID-19 data: SoSe 2022

In this seminar, selected analyses of COVID-19 Data are discussed with a critical focus, updated and extended. Furthermore, numerous data analyses have been disseminated via social media by various actors, which often come to dubious conclusions. Such examples will also be discussed critically in the seminar. Target group: Bachelor and Master in Statistics, Master in Epidemiology

https://moodle.lmu.de/course/view.php?id=21048

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_EwD8PZTXOPvhSVl8oO1cw

Virtual Journal Club

In sessions lasting around 30-45 minutes, which take place via Zoom, our virtual Journal Club mainly deals with COVID-related topics. Past topics have included an overview of COVID modelling, COVID in immunocompromised patients, heterologous vaccines, Paxlovid and Remdesivir.