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Coronavirus: LUMC media appearances

The staff of the Leiden University Medical Center are doing all they can to help as many corona patients as possible. They are also making regular media appearances to discuss the disease. Below are a few examples.

Should we be afraid of a similar situation to Italy?

The mayor of the severely affected city of Bergamo has warned the Netherlands of a similar situation to Italy. Is he right or is our approach sensible and rational? Louis Kroes, hoogleraar Klinische Virologie, Professor of Clinical Virology, offered her thoughts on BNR Nieuwsradio.

More testing isn’t as easy as it might seem…

Should the Netherlands be carrying out more coronavirus tests? Many Dutch people think so. In Medisch Contact, Leiden doctor and microbiologist Ann Vossen, explained that it’s not that simple. ‘There are real shortages in the diagnostic material.’ She already said words to that effect to De Volkskrant newspaper: ‘It’s arriving in dribs and drabs. Once you’ve replenished one lot of stock, you then find it difficult to get your hands on something else.’

…but we should be doing it anyway

Once more test material is available in the Netherlands, we should resume testing on a large scale, said Emeritus Professor of Vaccines and Vaccination Ben van der Zeijst to WNL. ‘If you can’t test, you’ve lost control of the situation. Then you don’t know what’s happening anymore.’

The very elderly should consider whether they want to be admitted to hospital

The very elderly in the Netherlands should think about whether they wish to undergo all the corona treatments that are available. These were the words of Evert de Jonge, professor and head of intensive care, in the Leidsch Dagblad newspaper. ‘Intensive care can do a lot, but it isn’t always the right thing for the patient.’

New corona drug! Or not?

Around the world a frantic search is under way for a drug against corona. One of the most promising candidates is chloroquine, an old anti-malaria drug. The Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has already purchased it. Mark de Boer, , internist-infectiologist at the LUMC, responded critically in Reformatorisch Dagblad newspaper.

Sniffles and sneezes? It could be hay fever.

With the mild weather, hay fever is arriving earlier. But sniffles are particularly confusing in these times because you can also develop cold symptoms with coronavirus. This can cause unnecessary worry, Letty de Weger, a lung disease researcher, explained.

Is dry skin dangerous?

Dry skin from frequent hand washing is not just irritating but also harmful because this gives free rein to bacteria. These are the words of Sjan Lavrijsen, a dermatologist at the LUMC. However: ‘Combatting coronavirus is more important now than preventing dry hands,’ she says.

Health workers deserve the Nobel Prize

Give this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to health workers. This is what Wilco Achterberg, Professor of Institutional Care and Geriatric Medicine, blogs. ‘In these times more so ever, health workers are doing all they can for vulnerable people. I deeply respect that, and it deserves the highest honour.’

More than 1,000 volunteers report to LUMC

More than 1,000 people responded to the LUMC’s call for help in these times of corona. This is what Unity.nu wrote in its liveblog. The LUMC was particularly looking for nurses and medical specialists, but other volunteers were also asked to come forward.

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