Institute of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine
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COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 research and activities

On 27.01.2020, the first German COVID-19 case in Germany was diagnosed at the Tropical Institute in Munich by Dr. med. Camilla Rothe(virus detection by the Institute of Microbiology of the German Armed Forces). TIME Magazine named Camilla Rothe as one of the 100 most influential people in 2020, in 2021 she received the Rolf Becker Prize of the LMU Medical Faculty and in 2022 she was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The team at the Munich Tropical Institute has made an active contribution to containing the COVID-19 pandemic with its expertise in infection control and crisis intervention under the leadership of Professor Michael Hoelscher. The publication"Transmission of 2019-nCoV Infection from an Asymptomatic Contact in Germany" in The New England Journal of Medicine (see The New York Times, 27.06.2020) and the antibody study "Prospective COVID-19 Cohort Munich" (KoCo19), see The New York Times (18.04.2022), received great international attention. Michael Hoelscher has been a member of an expert council on the pandemic convened by the Bavarian state government since 2020 and was awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit in 2022.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Tropical Institute has been carrying out extensive activities and research projects in the field of COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 in a cross-departmental "COVID-19 Reponse Unit". Below you will find:

  • Research projects
  • Further activities of the COVID-19 Response Unit to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Honors and awards


Under News and Press you will find media reports on the activities of the Tropical Institute during the pandemic.

Research projects

PD Dr. med. Andreas Wieser/LMU Klinikum

Follow-up study on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in Ethiopia

In an Ethiopian-German research collaboration, the Tropical Institute at LMU Klinikum München examined blood samples from health workers and urban and rural communities for antibodies. The results, published in the journal "The Lancet Global Health", suggested that the actual prevalence of COVID-19 is significantly higher than previously officially reported figures. The research team therefore recommends a reorientation of the vaccination strategy for Africa. >>

LMU Klinikum

Testing of COVID-19 vaccines in vaccination studies

In spring 2020, the Tropical Institute set up a new clinical study center, which ensures the testing of COVID-19 vaccines in vaccination studies, taking infection protection into account. >>

Münchner Stadtentwässerung (MSE)

Wastewater monitoring as an early warning system for metropolitan areas

The map of the Bay-VOC-Initiative shows the current SARS-CoV-2 trend of wastewater sites in Bavaria.

The research group led by PD Dr. med. Andreas Wieser developed a wastewater monitoring protocol with cooperation partners, which was implemented from April 2020 and determines the load of SARS-CoV-2 viruses in wastewater at six different locations in the Munich wastewater network on a weekly basis. This enabled the development of the pandemic to be tracked at an early stage >>

Credit: LMU Klinikum

A small prick of great importance in the global fight against the pandemic

A team of researchers led by PD Dr. Andreas Wieser from the Tropical Institute at LMU Klinikum München has developed an approach that allows anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies from DBS samples to be analyzed in the laboratory. This reliable and high-throughput method offers great advantages, especially for global application in developing countries. The protocol was published in EBioMedicine (The Lancet) >>

ORCHESTRA: EU Horizon 2020 cohort to combat COVID-19

ORCHESTRA (Connecting European Cohorts to Increase Common and Effective Response to SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic) is a three-year international research project to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, led by the University of Verona and involving 26 partners from 15 countries, including the Tropical Institute at LMU Klinikum. >>

Laetitia Vancon/The New York Times

Antibody study: Prospective COVID-19 Cohort Munich (KoCo19)

Together with cooperation partners and the Bavarian state government, the Tropical Institute launched the "Prospective COVID-19 Cohort Munich" (KoCo19 for short) project in April 2020. For this purpose, up to 3,000 representative households were selected in the Munich area to examine the infection status of the study participants and collect further health information. >>


LMU Klinikum

Co-vaccination study for COVID-19 vaccinated people

With which antibody constellations do COVID-19 infections and diseases occur? From what titer are you protected? Are asymptomatic infections possible after vaccination, which can be passed on to people in the vicinity despite the absence of signs of illness? What is the relationship between antibody titres and the risk or severity of disease? These are some of the questions being investigated by the KoCo vaccination study. >>

PD Dr. med. Inge Kroidl/LMU Klinikum München

CoCo19-Immu study

The KoCo19-Immu study was designed as a follow-up study of the "Prospective COVID-19 Cohort Munich (KoCo19)" cohort. KoCo19-Immu followed the development of antibodies, cellular immunity and the course of SARS-CoV-2 viral load in SARS-CoV-2 infected persons and their household members, starting directly on the day after a positive swab, up to 12 months. The focus here was on describing the course of the disease in outpatients. (see projects, research group PD Dr. Inge Kroidl) >>

Further activities of the COVID Response Unit

Bayerische Staatsoper/Wilfried Hösl

Corona vaccination campaign in a royal ambience at the National Theater in Munich

In February 2022, the Tropical Institute at the LMU Klinikum took part in a joint campaign by the Ministry of Science and the Arts and the Bavarian State Opera, with an open corona vaccination offer without an appointment. >>

Alexandra Beier

High demand for coronavirus vaccination program at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich

Thanks to a joint campaign by the Ministry of Science, the Tropical Institute of the LMU Klinikum and the State Painting Collections, almost 700 people were able to be vaccinated against the coronavirus at the Pinakothek der Moderne on Monday, December 13, 2021. >>

Laetitia Vancon/The New York Times

10,000 PCR tests after one year of operation: COVID-19 Testing Unit (CTU)

The COVID-19 Testing Unit (CTU) at the Munich Tropical Institute was probably the first SARS-CoV-2 testing station in Germany. Since its opening at the beginning of 2020, a total of over 10,000 PCR tests have been carried out under the direction of PD Dr. Günter Fröschl. The approximately one-year operation of the test station ended on March 26, 2021. >>

LMU Klinikum

COVID-19-associated interventions in retirement and nursing homes

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Tropical Institute has provided advice and support services in several care facilities for the elderly in the greater Munich area and for the Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Care. The focus: How to organize day-to-day processes and management in such a way that hygiene measures are adhered to and the risk of infection is minimized?

Pixabay

Advice from the Bavarian Expert Council on the COVID-19 pandemic

Michael Hoelscher has been a member of an expert council on the pandemic convened by the Bavarian state government since 2020. Christian Janke, MSc, MPH is a member of the Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Care's expert panel on pandemic containment in long-term care as a representative of the department. PD Dr. med. Andreas Wieser is a consultant to the Exceptional Events Unit (SAE) of the City of Munich (SARS-CoV-2 monitoring project in wastewater).

Laetitia Vancon/The New York Times

Laboratory capacities for COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 research

From 2020, the institute created extensive laboratory capacities for COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 research within a very short space of time. The research infrastructure (see Research) was further expanded and diagnostics in the accredited laboratory area was extended (e.g. antibody determinations against the spike protein, against the nucleocapsid antigen, neutralization surrogate test and ID NOW™ point-of-care nucleic acid amplification technology).

Honors and prizes

Bundesregierung / Jesco Denzel

Dr. Camilla Rothe receives the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

"Building bridges" - under this motto, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier awarded 21 people with the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany on Friday, September 30, 2022 in Bellevue Palace on the Day of German Unity. Among the honorees is Dr. med Camilla Rothe, specialist in internal medicine, tropical medicine and infectiology and deputy head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine (Tropical Institute) at LMU Hospital. >>

Joerg Koch/ Bayerische Staatskanzlei

Prof. Michael Hoelscher awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit

Minister President Dr. Markus Söder awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit to 47 personalities for their services to the Free State of Bavaria and the Bavarian people at a ceremony in the Antiquarium of the Residence in Munich on 14 March 2022. Renowned personalities from the fields of medicine and science, art and culture, sport, care and business are among those honored. This year, Prof. Dr. med. Michael Hoelscher from LMU Klinikum München was among them. >>

LMU/Christoph Olesinski

Dr. Camilla Rothe receives the 2021 Rolf Becker Prize of the LMU Faculty of Medicine

Dr. Camilla Rothe from the Munich Tropical Institute was awarded the Rolf Becker Prize 2021 by the Medical Faculty of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and the "Rufzeichen Gesundheit!" foundation in Baierbrunn foundation. >>

LMU Klinikum

Tropical Institute hands over Corona exhibits to the Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte

On October 5, 2021, the Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte's coronavirus collection received another addition. The team of doctors led by Prof. Dr. Michael Hoelscher, Director of the Tropical Institute at LMU Klinikum München, donated objects from the early days of the coronavirus pandemic to Dr. Timo Nüßlein, the research assistant responsible for the museum collection at the Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte. >>

Andreas Gebert

Dr. Rothe receives PRO MERITIS SCIENTIAE ET LITTERARUM award

The tropical medicine specialist Dr. Camilla Rothe, the former managing director of the Munich House of Art, Dr. Bernhard Spies, the translator Rosemarie Tietze and the writer Dr. Uwe Timm received the "Pro Meritis Scientiae et Litterarum" award from the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts from the then Minister of Science and the Arts, Bernd Sibler. >>

Credit: LMU Klinikum

Time Magazine names Dr. Rothe as one of the 100 most influential people of 2020

With her discovery of asyptomatic infections, Dr. Camilla Rothe from the Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine contributed an elementary piece of the puzzle in the fight against COVID-19. >>

To the complete overview: Research