The Scholz Government plans to direct German public health authorities to begin systematic monitoring of RSV, the respiratory syncytial virus, which can cause serious symptoms in young children but is little more than a cold for healthy adults:
The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) will very soon be made subject to mandatory reporting requirements. Doctors and laboratories will have to report infected patients by name to health authorities …
Up to now, there has been no obligation to report RSV in Germany, with the exception of the federal state of Saxony …
The stated reason is that RSV has caused a high rate of illness in children the past two seasons and placed a serious burden on paediatric clinics nationwide. The RSV outbreak in autumn 2022 has made it clear that an improvement in data collection is needed for early detection and avoiding an overload of the health system.
The planned reporting requirements will not only improve the collection of epidemiological data, but also enable public health authorities “to carry out targeted early investigations and implement on-site measures to limit an outbreak and prevent further spread.”
