For her research in the context of the Corona pandemic, the physician Dr. Camilla Rothe from the Tropical Institute of the LMU Hospital in Munich received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Dr. Camilla Rothe conducts research as a specialist in internal medicine, tropical medicine and infectious diseases and as deputy head of the Department of Infectious and Tropical Medicine (Tropical Institute) at the LMU Hospital in Munich. For her commitment during the Corona pandemic, she has now been honored with the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. She was one of the first to prove asymptomatic COVID-19 transmission.
Rothe had diagnosed the first Corona infection in Germany on January 27, 2020. She recognized that the infection came from a person who was asymptomatic herself at the time.
The publishing of these findings together with the director of the Munich Tropical Institute triggered a scientific dispute worldwide, at the end of which was the confirmation of her findings.
"The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is an unbelievably great honor and pleasure for me," Rothe said during the ceremony in Berlin. Receiving it personally from the Federal President is a very special honor, he said. "I often try to convey to my students that important findings that can change the world are not only obtained in elaborately equipped laboratories, but that it is primarily in everyday medical practice that close observation and consistent action are important. I am pleased that the work of the Munich Tropical Institute is being honored in this special way.
"Her early warning and her courage in steadfastly sticking to her insight were a significant contribution to the containment of the Corona pandemic in its first phase. Camilla Rothe has also been involved from the outset in organizing hygiene measures and providing advice to minimize the risk of infection in elderly care and educational institutions," the Office of the Federal President said in explaining the award.