Nowhere else in Europe have so many people been infected with the corona virus as in Italy: The new lung disease was detected in more than 5000 people by Saturday evening. Almost 250 of them died. For comparison: Around 800 infected people are registered in Germany, so far nobody has died. The Federal Foreign Office therefore tightened its travel advice on Friday: It is now advising against unnecessary trips to the province of South Tyrol and the regions of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna, as well as to the city of Vo in the province of Padua.
But why are there so many cases in Italy of all places? And why is the virus apparently spreading there more than in other European countries? The Corriere della Sera newspaper interviewed three experts and analyzed four reasons.
1. The wave was only recognized when it was already too big
Massimo Galli is a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Milan. He is convinced that the virus probably spread to Italy from the end of January. But: Who brought it into the country is completely unclear. The so-called “patient zero” has remained unknown until today.
The reason: Most corona patients have little or no mild symptoms. “Patient Zero, whoever he was, had no reason to believe he was infected,” Galli told Corriere. He or she therefore unconsciously infected other people – the virus was able to spread unhindered, especially in the so-called red zone in the north of the country. “We only noticed the fire after it had burned most of the first floor,” said Galli. When the health authorities realized what they were dealing with, the wave had long been too big.
2. The “Super Spreaders”
Paolo Bonanni, professor of hygiene at the University of Florence, brought another component into play: the so-called “super spreaders”. They could be the reason why, despite the fact that the virus is now known and attempts to contain it, the virus is still spreading rapidly in Italy.
Bonanni’s theory: In certain “subjects”, the microorganism replicated in quantities that can infect many people within a short period of time. A “super-disseminator” could therefore infect more people than is usual with a normal spread of a flu illness. According to Bonanni, it cannot be ruled out that there are one or more super-spreaders in Italy.
3. Italy also tests symptom-free patients
Another reason for the high number of cases in Italy, according to Fabrizio Pregliasco, virologist at the University of Milan, is the high test frequency of the Italians. While other countries only test for Covid-19 who shows symptoms, “we have also carried out numerous tests on people at risk,” says Pregliasco. This primarily means contact persons for infected or potentially infected people.
Due to the higher test frequency, there are also more identified patients, said the virologist. For comparison: In Germany, contact persons for corona patients are usually not tested immediately, but are initially sent into domestic isolation. Unless they develop symptoms, there is usually no test – some infections remain undetected.
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4. Italy as a “laboratory” for other countries
Hygiene professor Bonanni assumes that the number of cases in other countries will probably not increase as massively as in Italy, because it will benefit from the experience that the Italians have already had in dealing with the virus: “At the moment we are a bit ahead in the course of the epidemic, other countries will only arrive later where we are now. “
For example, containment measures could be applied earlier in other countries if they had proven effective in Italy. “We are a kind of laboratory for other nations in every respect,” said Bonanni.
Swell: “Corriere della Sera”, ANSA news agency
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