Shielding in Cystic Fibrosis, A Physical Health Perspective

After a drop in the initial coronavirus (COVID-19) infection rates reported in Germany, there appears to be marked increase in incidence reporting in many federal states.¹ This increase in outbreaks leading up to the winter months poses the question of what preparations can we put in place based on what we have learnt in the event of a second wave of COVID-19.

In this webinar Dr Schwarz provides an overview of the physical and clinical health perspectives of COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic, highlights the challenges shielding poses for clinician-patient contact, and discusses the importance to review pre-pandemic practices to ensure cystic fibrosis patients are still seen.

With restrictions to routine visits in most cystic fibrosis centres and outpatient clinics, cystic fibrosis care visits require re-evaluating in this age with innovative ways of delivering outpatient care in a COVID safe environment. This includes prescription reviews, detecting exacerbations from home using digital home pulmonary function tests, and alternatives to outpatient visitations. This is not limited to outpatient care but also inpatient care, mental health, physiotherapy, sport engagement, dietician reviews, documentation of data and engagements with other cystic fibrosis centres also require review.

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• Dr Carsten Schwarz

  Adult Pneumonologist, Head of the CF Centre, Lung-transplantation programme and Endoscopy Unit

  Read biography
  Dr Carsten Schwarz

  Adult Pneumonologist, Head of the CF Centre, Lung-transplantation programme and Endoscopy Unit Endoscopy Unit at Charite Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Germany

  Role and Location

  Dr Schwarz is an adult pneumologist and works as the head of the CF Centre, Lung-transplantation programme, and Endoscopy Unit at Charite Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Germany.

  Education 

  Carsten completed his clinical training in Internal Medicine, Pneumology and Palliative Care at the Lung Hospital Heckeshorn in Berlin and became Group Leader in 2008 of the Network on fungi in Cystic Fibrosis and in 2010 of the German Benchmarking Project Group Rare pathogens in Cystic Fibrosis.

  Research Interests

  As his first research focus is infectious disease in CF he built up an international collaboration (EACCF) with the goal to understand the context and interaction between inflammation, infection and immunological response due to the most important bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and fungus (Aspergillus and scedopsorium spp.) in people with CF. His second research focus is co-morbidities in people with CF and on patients satisfaction. To evaluate and improve the quality of CF care he supported a huge nationwide survey on patients satisfaction which was published in 2014 and to evaluate the cancer risk in CF he started an ECFS register analysis.

  Memberships

  Since 2010 Dr Schwartz serves for the German CF Foundation within the benchmarking project as an expert to certify CF centres. He is Chairman of the CF Clinician Council and advisor of the Therapy promoting and Quality Board of the Mukoviszidose e.V., the national CF patient organization in Germany. Since 2008, Dr Schwartz is the medical advisor of the National Nurse Specialist Group CF in Germany. He participates actively in the ECFS and is currently a member of the ECFS Conference Scientific Steering Committee, the ECFS Adult CF Group, and the ECMM/ISHAM Group for Fungal Respiratory Infections in Cystic Fibrosis (Fri-CF).