Questionnaire campaign on Long-Covid
Long-Covid: First phase of the state-funded epidemiological study on permanent symptoms after an acute Covid-19 infection begins
The Medical Center - University of Freiburg and the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald/Freiburg Health Department are launching a study funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg on delayed recovery and lasting symptoms after an acute Covid-19 infection. Over the next few days, the public health department will be sending out around 8,000 questionnaires by post to people who fell ill with coronavirus in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald/Freiburg region last winter. The questionnaires will ask for information on the SARS-CoV-2 infection at the time, the development of symptoms to date and the current health situation and quality of life. It takes no longer than 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire. A prepaid return envelope is enclosed. "We hope that as many people as possible will fill out the questionnaire," says Prof. Dr. Winfried Kern, Head of Infectiology at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. "The questions should also be answered if the infection was mild and/or all symptoms have completely disappeared," adds Dr. Oliver Kappert, Head of the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald/Freiburg Health Department.
The project will continue in the coming weeks in the Emmendingen district and in the regions around Tübingen, Heidelberg and Ulm. The researchers are confident that this large population-based study in Baden-Württemberg will quickly contribute to a better understanding of the disease and the development of treatment options.
About the EPILOC study
A number of patients report delayed recovery and persistent symptoms for weeks to months after an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. In addition to chest pain and shortness of breath, the main symptoms are exhaustion during physical exertion as well as concentration and memory disorders. This clinical picture - often referred to as "Long-Covid" - and its treatment have not yet been well researched. The university hospitals in Baden-Württemberg have therefore set up special outpatient clinics for the care of these people, but also for better research into Long Covid. The state government is now funding the so-called EPILOC study, in which the type and frequency of long-lasting symptoms after COVID-19 are to be determined more precisely - with the hoped-for goal of developing effective therapies. In the first phase, questionnaires will be sent out to former COVID-19 sufferers by selected health authorities in the catchment area of the university hospitals. The questionnaires are to be evaluated as early as September. Patients with particularly pronounced Long Covid syndrome will then be invited to an outpatient examination at the respective university hospital. The diagnostic tests, which can then be used to examine the symptoms in more detail, will also be offered to former SARS-CoV-2 patients without such symptoms. By comparing the results in these two groups, the scientists are trying to find out which factors could be responsible for the long-lasting symptoms and lack of recovery in long-Covid patients. Participation in the survey and the subsequent examinations is voluntary.
Contact for members of the press:
Prof. Dr. Winfried Kern
Head of Infectiology
Department of Medicine II
Uniklinik - University of Freiburg
winfried.kern@uniklinik-freiburg.de
Matthias Fetterer
Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald District Office
Coordination and Press Department
matthias.fetterer@lkbh.de
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