Under the leadership of the infectious disease physician and director of the Department of Infectious and Tropical Medicine, Prof. Michael Hölscher, LMU has started the study "Prospective COVID-19 Cohort Munich" (KoCo19 for short) in order to investigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the effectiveness of countermeasures. The study team is going to visit up to 3,000 representatively selected households in the Munich area at various intervals, to examine the state of infection among the study participants and to collect further health information. Since April 5, research teams supported by medical students have been going out to collect blood samples, personal interviews as well as a symptoms, whereabouts and contact diary, which is kept by the study participants via an app. The researchers are accompanied by local police to reassure participants of the integrity of the visitors.
As the New York Times is reporting, the study can help political decision-making on further necessary measures to deal with the pandemic. Joining forces, the study is being conducted in cooperation with the active EUGLOH actor Center for International Health (CIHLMU), the Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine and the Institute for Emergency Medicine and Medical Management (INM) at LMU Hospital as well as other institutions in Bavaria like the Helmholtz Zentrum München.
Find out more about the KoCo19 study watching the video or visit Tropical Institute's website!