Database for national and international networks

The crisis triggered by the coronavirus represents a serious threat to both the general health of the world’s population and to the global economy. This is especially the case regarding countries with a high number of patients. Little is known about the virus’s biology and behavior, its pathology, and the possibility of future, recurrent pandemic outbreaks. In particular, the medical data needed to evaluate these questions are lacking. Appropriate behavioral guidelines for the population are not based on specific data. Systematic records and documentation of patients with viral illnesses in Germany are lacking. Coordinated, international documentation is also lacking. Only systematically coordinated patient and data records, carried out by doctors and institutes which specialize in infections (e.g. RKI), can help to provide insight into the behavior of the virus and the development of the illness as quickly as possible, in order to develop and make use of suitable and efficient treatments. These data and the resulting knowledge are particularly important for the development of a targeted vaccine.