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Updated: Dec 6, 2025

Remote Laboratory Management: Respiratory Virus Diagnostics
Published on: April 6, 2019
[Intensive care back up for infectious disease disasters]
D Wichmann1, H Matthews2, M F Nentwich2
1Klinik für Intensivmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20251, Hamburg, Deutschland. d.wichmann@uke.de.
Background:
Outbreaks of infectious diseases pose particular challenges for hospitals and intensive care units.
Objectives:
Typical infectiological scenarios and their significance for modern intensive care medicine are presented.
Materials And Methods:
Selected pathogens/infectious diseases that have significantly strained the resources of intensive care units are described.
Results:
Intensive medical care is necessary in severe cases of many infectious diseases. In the context of epidemics/pandemics, many critically ill patients have to be admitted within a short time. Examples are the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, the 2011 enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) outbreak in northern Germany, the 2014/2015 Ebola fever outbreak and the 2020 coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Multidisciplinary teams, protocol development, adequate staffing, and training are required to achieve optimal treatment outcomes, including prevention of healthcare worker infections.
Conclusions:
Pandemics and epidemics are unique challenges for intensive care unit preparedness planning.
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