The Ischgl Follow-Up Study (FUPS-Ischgl)

Dr Katie Bates, a demographer and epidemiologist, will be using the Lise Meitner Award to work on the Ischgl study. The Ischgl study is a population-based cohort study that began in April 2020 under the principal investigator Univ.-Prof. Dr. Dorothee von Laer, head of the Institute of Virology, Medical University Innsbruck, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The study found 42% of people living in Ischgl had antibodies against COVID-19, indicating they had, at some point, been infected with the virus. Dr Bates will lead a sub-project of the Ischgl Study, collaborating with ao. Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Hanno Ulmer, Head of the Department of Medical Statistics and with the Institute of Virology at the Medical University Innsbruck. The project will, by following up the population of Ischgl at 6- and 12-months since April, assess the nature and persistence of symptoms following COVID-19 infection. In addition, the study aims to understand the wider health, social and economic effects the pandemic has had on the community.