Pandemic Resilience – The next pandemic is coming

Do you remember the winter of 2022? The paediatric intensive care units were full of babies and small children who could barely breathe. This was because the measures taken to combat the coronavirus pandemic in the two previous winters meant that many children had not yet had their first RSV infection. As a result, there were many children who were suddenly ill and therefore more than usual who were seriously ill. The respiratory syncytial virus is particularly bad for babies under 3 months of age. This is because it can lead to severe pneumonia - and sometimes life-long consequential damage remains. An example of how quickly pathogens can spread. And this is precisely the area of expertise of Dr Berit Lange - the (acting) head of the Department of Epidemiology and head of the Clinical Epidemiology research group here at the HZI.