Introduction
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This section answers the important questions and provides some initial guidance.
- What is COVID-19?
- My COVID-19 test is positive. What happens now?
- What treatment is available for COVID-19?
- The pandemic is a huge burden to me. I feel lonely and I am often very depressed. Where can I get help?
“Hilfe für mich” provides answers to your questions. Look in the individual sections or use the search option and search for key words.
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 23.05.22
COVID-19
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COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a virus called SARS-CoV-2 which primarily strikes the airways but can also affect other organs.
The first cases occurred in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019. A little later the virus spread to other countries and caused a worldwide pandemic.
The name COVID is an abbreviation of “coronavirus disease”. The number 19 stands for the year 2019 when it all began.
More information is available on infektionsschutz.de, the website of the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA), on the Health Ministry’s websites Zusammen gegen Corona and gesund.bund.de and from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
Information about COVID-19 is available in various languages from the World Health Organization (WHO) and in English from Pfizer Inc.
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 23.05.22 -
SARS-COV-2 is a pathogenic virus belonging to the coronavirus family. It takes its name from the crown-like spikes on the virus envelope, “corona” being the Latin word for crown.
At present, we know of seven different coronaviruses that can infect humans. Four of them mainly cause mild cold symptoms or diarrhea while the other three are more dangerous and can cause severe airway infections:
- SARS-CoV
The SARS-CoV coronavirus (which is also called SARS-CoV-1) causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS. There was an outbreak in 2002-2003, occurring mainly in China but affecting some other countries as well. Around the world, about 8000 people became infected and about 800 of them died from the effects of the illness. Further information about SARS is available from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
- MERS-CoV
The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) can cause severe airway infections, pneumonia and kidney failure. MERS-CoV was first detected in 2012. Up to now, most cases of MERS have occurred on the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East. It is thought that many people become infected as a result of contact with infected dromedaries. In other parts of the world such as Africa, Asia and Europe, only a few imported cases have so far been detected. Further information is available from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
- SARS-CoV-2
SARS-CoV-2 is the pathogen causing COVID-19. Up to now, it is the most dangerous member of the coronavirus family as far as humans are concerned. A number of different variants of the virus have arisen as a result of mutations (changes) in the virus’s genetic make-up. These have been named with letters of the Greek alphabet (alpha, beta, gamma, delta, omicron). Such variants are considered to be a cause for concern if, for example, they are particularly infectious or if they are particularly likely to cause serious illness.
You’ll find more information about COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 in our other sections.
Information about COVID-19 is available in different languages from the World Health Organization (WHO) and in English from Pfizer Inc.
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 15.07.24 -
At the time of writing (April 2022), more than 500 million people throughout the world, 24 million of them in Germany alone, have caught COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic at the end of 2019.
Women and men become infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in about equal measure. However, the illness often takes a more serious course in men. The proportion of men who die from COVID-19 is about twice as high as the proportion of women.
Current case numbers for Germany are available from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and for the whole world from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 27.09.23 -
COVID-19 occurs in all age groups. However, there are differences with regard to its frequency and severity.
Most of the COVID-19 cases in Germany so far have been in the 35 to 59–year-old age group with 15- to 34-year-olds in second place.
The risk of dying from COVID-19 increases with age. People aged over 80 years are at the greatest risk, followed by people aged 60 to 79 years.
In children, the illness is more often mild or asymptomatic (which means it has no symptoms at all). In older people, mild illness is less common. Importantly, even when the illness is mild, clear symptoms can occur.
Further information about the spread of the illness in Germany is available from the COVID-19 Dashboard of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
International data about the spread is available from the Coronavirus dashboard of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 27.09.23 -
A number of factors can increase the risk of severe illness with COVID-19. This means that certain groups within society are at greater risk and are therefore referred to as “high-risk groups” or “vulnerable groups”.
The most important risk factors are:
- Age
Above 60 years, the risk of severe illness increases progressively with increasing age.
- Pre-existing conditions
Diabetes, lung, liver, kidney and cardiovascular diseases, cancer, organ transplantation and severe mental illness can all increase the risk of severe illness. Many disabled people are also at increased risk, for example because paraplegia can limit lung function.
- Being very overweight (obesity)
People who are obese (with BMI over 30) and contract COVID-19 are twice as likely to be admitted to hospital. Studies have shown that fat cells can have a negative effect on the course taken by the illness.
- Immunodeficiency
People whose immune systems are compromised because of illness or medical treatment are at increased risk.
- Smoking
Because of the damage often caused to their lungs, smokers are at increased risk of severe illness.
Risk factors can reinforce each other. So when someone has several different risk factors together, as is the case for older or overweight people who also have other pre-existing conditions, it is especially important that they take care to avoid infection.
Further information about high-risk groups and risk factors is available at the Federal Health Ministry’s website Zusammen gegen Corona and from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 23.05.22 -
One problem is that patients who have mild COVID-19 at home often do not notice when their illness turns into sepsis.
Sepsis is always an emergency. This means it's important to recognize the symptoms of sepsis early on.
If someone with COVID-19 suddenly feels very ill and has chills, fever, a fast pulse rate and confusion, they should go straight to hospital or call the emergency service.
Further information about sepsis is available from Deutschland erkennt Sepsis, an initiative of the patient safety alliance APS.
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 23.05.22 -
The infection is mainly passed on through virus-containing droplets and aerosols in the air we breathe.
When we breathe, speak, sing, shout, sneeze and cough we emit tiny droplets and aerosols which can remain in the air for a long time. Just how long depends on the size of the droplets. Droplets spread over a radius of 1.5 to 2 meters while aerosols can spread much further. The droplets and aerosols emitted by infected people contain small amounts of the virus. If someone else breathes them in, the virus gets into their body where it can reproduce.
Infections occur mainly in badly-ventilated indoor spaces and when an infected person is nearby.
The virus can also be transmitted on our hands or via contaminated surfaces (fomite transmission) but this route is less important than airborne transmission for the overall spread.
Read our section on “Everyday prevention” to find out how you can protect yourself from becoming infected.
Further information about the different transmission routes is available from the Federal Health Ministry’s website infektionsschutz.de.
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 06.06.23 -
No, COVID-19 is not a hereditary disease.
However, it is not impossible that a pregnant woman could pass on the illness to her unborn child. Individual cases of the illness have been reported in new-born babies who may have become infected before birth.
The risk of infection is greater after birth. Because of the close contact between mother and child, the virus can be transmitted from the mother to her new-born baby in airborne droplets or aerosols.
To reduce the risk for new-born babies, STIKO, Germany’s Standing Committee on Vaccination, therefore recommends that pregnant and breast-feeding women be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Pregnant women are recommended to have the vaccination during the second trimester of pregnancy. Women who received the first vaccination before they became pregnant should have their second vaccination in the second trimester of pregnancy.
Further information is available at the Federal Health Ministry’s website infektionsschutz.de.
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 06.06.23 -
COVID-19 and the flu are both infectious diseases of the airways and they cause similar symptoms: coughing, sneezing, runny nose, fever, headache and aching limbs.
They are caused by different pathogens. Flu is caused by influenza viruses and COVID-19 is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
How the illness develops is dependent on many factors such as age, state of health and pre-existing conditions. In the case of COVID-19, the different waves of the pandemic have shown that the risk of serious illness is also dependent on the virus variant.
If you experience the symptoms we have just described, you should stay at home, avoid contact with other people and call a doctor to ask for advice. You can find out whether you have COVID-19 by taking a test.
Further information comparing COVID-19 and flu is available at the Federal Health Ministry’s health website gesund.bund.de.
Information in different languages on the comparison between COVID-19 and flu is available from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 23.05.22
Symptoms
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COVID-19 can cause various different symptoms. The illness is different in different people. In many cases, infected people have only mild symptoms or no symptoms at all.
Frequent symptoms:
- cough
- runny nose
- fever with a temperature above 38o C
- hoarseness, sore throat
- headache and aching limbs
- impaired senses of taste and smell
- breathlessness, respiratory distress
After the acute illness, some people experience further symptoms such as exhaustion (fatigue), nausea, concentration problems, dizziness, and other neurological symptoms. This is known as post-COVID-19 syndrome or long COVID.
A summary of COVID-19 symptoms and a wealth of additional information is available from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
Information about COVID-19 is available in different languages from the World Health Organization (WHO) and in English from Pfizer Inc.
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 15.07.24 -
The symptoms are usually less pronounced in children than in adults. COVID-19 in children is usually mild or without symptoms. If symptoms do occur they often consist of a cough, fever and/or a runny nose. In such cases the illness is similar to a cold.
However, it can happen that children and young people develop long COVID, experiencing longer-lasting symptoms such as exhaustion, concentration difficulties or muscle pain.
In very rare cases, children can develop a condition known as PIMS (Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome) or MIS-C (Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children) a few weeks after recovering from COVID-19.
There is an increased risk of more severe illness in infants and in children who already have lung disorders and/or cardiovascular illness. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) provides a list of relevant pre-existing conditions (the list is to be found below the question “Welchen Kindern und Jugendlichen wird die COVID-19-Schutzimpfung besonders empfohlen?”)
Further information about the expression of the illness in children is available at the Federal Health Ministry’s website infektionsschutz.de and from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
The World Health Organization (WHO) provides extensive information about COVID-19 in children and young people in various languages.
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 15.07.24 -
When children become infected with SARS-CoV-2, many develop only mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. This means it is often hard for parents to recognize when a child has COVID-19. You should nevertheless watch out for typical symptoms in your child such as coughing and fever.
A test can give you a definite answer. For further information about COVID tests, go to the Examinations section.
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 23.05.22
Outlook
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When your antigen home test or rapid test is positive, it is highly likely that you are infected with SARS-CoV-2. You should avoid social contact and inform the people you have been in contact with in the past few days. A PCR test can confirm whether you are really infected.
When your PCR test result is positive, the testing laboratory informs the relevant local health authority (Gesundheitsamt) and you have to isolate. This means you are only allowed to leave your home in an emergency and you are not allowed to have visitors.
After a positive PCR test it is important to avoid infecting anyone else. When you are isolating at home, you should reduce your contact with other people in your household as much as possible, keep your distance, wash your hands often, wear a mask at home and air the rooms regularly.
The length of time you have to spend isolating and the time that close contacts have to spend in quarantine can be different in different parts of Germany and have been changed several times during the pandemic. Please check on the current rules in your particular federal state. More information can be found at infektionsschutz.de (website of BZgA, the Federal Centre for Health Education).
Most infected people recover from the illness at home. If need be, you can take medicines to relieve the symptoms and reduce your fever or calm the cough. In certain cases it can also be helpful to take antivirals early on in the illness to avoid becoming seriously ill. You should discuss the treatment options with your doctor as soon as you receive the result of the PCR test.
You should also consult a doctor if the symptoms worsen, or do not get better, after a week. Ask how the treatment will proceed and whether it needs to happen in hospital.
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 15.07.24 -
COVID-19 can cause a variety of longer-lasting symptoms such as problems affecting the heart, nervous system and/or lungs and also problems of a psychological nature.
When the symptoms are still present three months after a SARS-CoV-2 infection and they last longer than two months, the condition is known as long COVID or post-COVID syndrome. (The official medical term is “post-COVID-19 condition” but it is commonly referred to as long COVID.)
Typical long COVID symptoms are:
- breathlessness, respiratory distress
- neuropsychological symptoms such as forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating
- headache
- persisting tiredness, fatigue
- quickly becoming exhausted after physical exertion
Other possible late effects of COVID-19:
- impaired senses of taste and smell
- sleep problems
- depressed mood and anxiety
- rapid heartrate, irregular heartbeat
- gastrointestinal symptoms, allergies, intolerances
It is thought that up to 15% of those who catch COVID-19 will go on to develop long COVID. The precise causes of longer-lasting symptoms after COVID-19 are still not clear. The risk is higher after severe illness than after mild illness.
Further information about long COVID and post-COVID syndrome is available in a patient guide produced by AWMF (working group of medical associations), at the info portal from BZgA (longcovid-info.de) and at the Federal Health Ministry’s website gesund.bund.de.
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 15.07.24 -
When the illness is mild to moderate, people usually recover in two to three weeks. When you are infected with SARS-CoV-2 you should support your immune system by drinking plenty of water, getting enough sleep, avoiding exertion and stress and eating a balanced diet.
If the illness is severe it usually takes considerably longer to make a full recovery. This applies particularly to patients who are treated in hospital and receive artificial ventilation.
After recovering from COVID-19 you can take a PCR test. This will show whether the infection has cleared and the viral load is so low that you are no longer infectious.
But a negative test result does not automatically mean you are fully cured. It can happen that some symptoms of the illness, such as respiratory distress, exhaustion or impaired senses of taste and smell, persist for weeks or months after a negative test result.
When the symptoms are still present three months after a SARS-CoV-2 infection and they last longer than two months, the condition is known as long COVID or post-COVID syndrome.
Further information about the possible long-term effects of COVID-19 is available at infektionsschutz.de (the website of BZgA) and at the Health Ministry’s website gesund.bund.de.
Information about COVID-19 is available in different languages from the World Health Organization (WHO) and in English from Pfizer Inc.
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 06.06.23
Next step
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The first person to consult about health matters is normally your family doctor. He/she can perform basic examinations and make a diagnosis.
With mild to moderate COVID-19 it is not usually necessary to consult other doctors. As the illness progresses, the type and severity of the symptoms may call for examinations and treatment from a variety of other specialists such as a pulmonologist (lung specialist) in the case of breathing problems or a neurologist (nerve specialist) for problems with concentration, attention, fatigue and the senses of taste and smell.
When COVID-19 patients are treated in hospital, various different specialists are usually involved.
Please remember: if you suspect that you have COVID-19 it is best to get medical advice on the phone rather than going to the doctor's office in person. That way you avoid infecting other patients.
If you have acute COVID-19 symptoms you should call your doctor’s office and ask what rules currently apply with regard to isolation. The medical staff there can tell you what to do next.
If you need additional examinations and treatment and are looking for a specialist near your home, you can use the search options offered by the German Medical Association (Bundesärztekammer), the information services of the regional medical associations (KV) and the list compiled by the Bertelsmann Foundation.
Written by the HELPFÜRMICH editors and updated on 15.07.24
