• Horst Olschewski, Ernst Eber, Brigitte Bucher, Klaus Hackner, Sabin Handzhiev, Konrad Hoetzenecker, Marco Idzko, Walter Klepetko, Gabor Kovacs, Bernd Lamprecht, Judith Löffler-Ragg, Michael Meilinger, Alexander Müller, Christian Prior, Otmar Schindler, Helmut Täubl, Angela Zacharasiewicz, Ralf Harun Zwick, Britt-Madelaine Arns, Josef Bolitschek, Katharina Cima, Elisabeth Gingrich, Maximilian Hochmair, Fritz Horak, Peter Jaksch, Roland Kropfmüller, Andreas Pfleger, Bernhard Puchner, Christoph Puelacher, Patricia Rodriguez, SalzerHelmut J FHJFDepartment of Pulmonology, Faculty of Medicine, Johannes-Kepler-University, Linz, Austria., Peter Schenk, Ingrid Stelzmüller, Volker Strenger, Matthias Urban, Marlies Wagner, Franz Wimberger, and Holger Flick.
• Division of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria. horst.olschewski@medunigraz.at.
• Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. 2022 May 1; 134 (9-10): 399419399-419.

AbstractThe Austrian Society of Pneumology (ASP) launched a first statement on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in May 2020, at a time when in Austria 285 people had died from this disease and vaccinations were not available. Lockdown and social distancing were the only available measures to prevent more infections and the breakdown of the health system. Meanwhile, in Austria over 13,000 patients have died in association with a SARS-CoV‑2 infection and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was among the most common causes of death; however, SARS-CoV‑2 has been mutating all the time and currently, most patients have been affected by the delta variant where the vaccination is very effective but the omicron variant is rapidly rising and becoming predominant. Particularly in children and young adults, where the vaccination rate is low, the omicron variant is expected to spread very fast. This poses a particular threat to unvaccinated people who are at elevated risk of severe COVID-19 disease but also to people with an active vaccination. There are few publications that comprehensively addressed the special issues with SARS-CoV‑2 infection in patients with chronic lung diseases. These were the reasons for this updated statement. Pulmonologists care for many patients with an elevated risk of death in case of COVID-19 but also for patients that might be at an elevated risk of vaccination reactions or vaccination failure. In addition, lung function tests, bronchoscopy, respiratory physiotherapy and training therapy may put both patients and health professionals at an increased risk of infection. The working circles of the ASP have provided statements concerning these risks and how to avoid risks for the patients.© 2022. The Author(s).

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