► Why does the coronavirus mobilize so much?
Modes of transmission, incubation time, mutation possibilities: almost four weeks after the first patients appeared in China, the coronavirus has not yet revealed all its secrets. And it’s for this reason that he worries. “The emergence of unknown viruses still reactivates ancestral fears and rumors”, says Professor Christophe Rapp, infectious disease specialist at the American Hospital in Paris. The fear, all the greater as the spread of epidemics has accelerated markedly, as a result of globalization. “In time, an epidemic like the plague took days to arrive by boat, he emphasizes. Today, ten hours by plane is enough. “
On the verge of war against the coronavirus
If certain reactions, in this time of“Hyper-communication”, seem to him “Disproportionate”, the doctor acknowledges that they are not entirely unjustified, at a time when the profile of “2019-nCoV” remains uncertain. “Let’s remember that a few days ago, there was still a doubt about the human-to-human transmission of the disease, now proven “, abounds Yves Charpak, specialist in public health.
Hence the caution of French and foreign scientists, divided between the risk of overestimating the gravity of the situation and that of underestimating it. If most experts agree that this new coronavirus is less virulent than SARS (read benchmarks below), all insist on its possible mutation. “We do not know if it is in its final form or if it can become more virulent”, underlines Yves Charpak. To better identify its characteristics, it will take a few weeks, even several months. “But the sooner the epidemic ends, the less likely the virus will mutate, inform Doctor Rapp, because it is by multiplying that it changes its profile and can become more contagious. “
► How can the situation evolve in France?
At this stage, three cases of infected people have been identified in France. “It is likely that new case be revealed “, health minister Agnès Buzyn, who also added on Sunday January 26, after a meeting with the prime minister in Matignon, admitted that six suspected cases were still awaiting test results.
Sunday evening, Agnes Buzyn also formalized the government’s decision to soon repatriate the French who wish to do so from the coronavirus epidemic zone in China: ” The Prime Minister (Édouard Philippe) asked to organize a repatriation by direct air to France with the agreement of the Chinese authorities “. This repatriation will take place “Midweek” and will be carried out under the supervision of a “Dedicated medical team”. The returnees must also “Stay in a reception place for 14 days”.
The challenge is no longer to prevent the virus from entering the territory but to contain its spread. “There may be some sick people, but the risk of an epidemic is low”, considers Christophe Rapp. The latter nevertheless recalls that a period of ten days is necessary to ensure that the cases detected in Bordeaux and Paris have not led to secondary cases.
“Today, the three patients hospitalized in France are doing well, notes Doctor Rapp, who is more worried about the damage caused by the flu, which causes 650,000 deaths each year worldwide, including several thousand in France. “On will lose more French people because of the seasonal flu than with this coronavirus “, anticipates Professor Rapp. As with influenza, the majority of people likely to die from “2019-nCoV” are mainly immunocompromised, age-impaired or chronically ill.
► Is the country ready to face an epidemic?
Not only is France armed to deal with a possible epidemic, but it is doing everything to keep the cases detected isolated. “The virus alert and detection system seems to be working and the coordination between the Samu and the hospitals is pretty good “, considers Doctor Rapp, for whom France has made progress since the Ebola virus crisis in 2013. The outcome will depend, according to him, on the ability of citizens to implement the instructions of the Directorate General of health: call centers 15 if in doubt.
The objective is twofold: to prevent the emergency services from being saturated and to preserve the waiting rooms from possible contamination. “We are at a crucial time to prevent the epidemic from taking hold., insists Doctor Agnès Ricard-Hibon, who chairs the French Society of Emergency Medicine (SFMU). The Samu has trained professionals accustomed to this type of procedure, well established and already applied for Ebola or SARS. “
“At the moment, there is no panic and the few calls we receive come from people looking for information”, says the French Association of Medical Regulation Assistants, the first point of contact for people calling the Samu.
As for airports, the government is assuming its desire not to install temperature detectors for travelers, as is currently the case in China and in certain European countries. “Previous epidemics, notably that of H1N1, have taught us the ineffectiveness of this measure, which reassures but does not identify people in the incubation phase or who have taken paracetamol”, assures Professor Rapp.
Currently, prevention consists primarily of reminding travelers, via posters posted in terminals, of the essential “barrier measures” – regular handwashing, wearing of masks, etc.
“At the moment there are no travel restrictions and there probably won’t be any, said Bruno Hoen, director of medical research at the Institut Pasteur. According to him, the vaccine track could be considered in the event of a crisis. “Vaccine research has been underway since 2012-2013 for the Seas (Middle East respiratory syndrome, another form of coronavirus which appeared in 2012 and is still active), He says. The vaccines developed in this context could be used and adapted for this new coronavirus. “
In the evening, Sunday, the union of French tour operators (Seto) nevertheless recommended the suspension of organized trips to China until February 21. A recommendation made the day after a decision by Beijing to suspend organized trips to China and from China.
► Is China taking all the necessary measures to fight the epidemic?
” The virus is crazy but we mustn’t all go crazy too Said Professor Gao Fu, director general of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, on Sunday (January 26th), calling for calm. The day before, Chinese leader Xi Jinping had again stepped up to the plate during an emergency meeting of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party’s political bureau, to warn that China was facing a “Serious situation” – more than 2,700 people infected and at least 80 dead according to a last report published Monday, January 27 – because the epidemic “Accelerates”.
This mobilization at the highest level of the state illustrates the maximum state of emergency in which the country finds itself. And unlike the SARS crisis in 2003 when the authorities had waited six months to communicate on this epidemic, they reacted much faster this time. So the first cases appeared on December 12, and the WHO was informed on December 31. However, Beijing has only taken drastic measures since last week: nearly 60 million Chinese in quarantine, prohibition to circulate by car in Wuhan without exception, widespread temperature taking, cancellation of New Year’s celebrations everywhere , closure of major tourist sites, wearing a mandatory mask in many provinces, no more organized trips abroad from January 27.
Faced with the virulence of viruses, ” less powerful than SARS but more contagious The army has come to the aid of Wuhan, where it will build two new field hospitals, one of 1,000 beds ready by February 3 and a second of 1,300 beds expected by February 17. China thus entered the year of the Rat on January 25 under the sign of the coronavirus. As a result of this New Year, hundreds of millions of people have moved across the country. In a week, the question of their return home will arise. Meanwhile, Beijing on Monday decided to extend the very long New Year’s holidays by three days until February 2 in order to delay massive returns to cities.
► What is the attitude of WHO?
Following a meeting of its emergency committee, the World Health Organization (WHO) ruled on Thursday, January 23, that he was ” too early “ to trigger the international alert. “I am not declaring a public health emergency of international concern today”, indicated its director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. This desire to procrastinate is linked to several reasons. On the one hand, there were then no recorded cases of human-to-human transmission of the virus outside of China, a criterion for triggering an alert when faced with a risk of a pandemic.
Although the WHO sets objective elements for assessing the situation, it will however always be accused either of overreacting, as for avian influenza (H1N1) in 2009, or of delaying reacting, as during the virus epidemic Ebola in West Africa, in 2014. On the other hand, the WHO is not a supranational gendarme but an authority at the service of States. Its health decision-making, including restriction of movement, must also take into account diplomatic aspects and economic repercussions which can amount to billions of dollars.
______________________________
The international public health emergency, a rare measure
This message of maximum alert, created by the World Health Organization (WHO) following the health crises of the 2000s (in particular the epidemic of SARS, which had infected 8,000 people and left 774 dead between November 2002 and July 2003) has been launched five times in ten years:
– June 11, 2009, for the H1N1 flu epidemic in Asia.
– May 5, 2014, following the spread of polio in several countries, Africa and Asia.
– August 8, 2014, for Ebola hemorrhagic fever, which started in late 2013 in southern Guinea.
– 1st February 2016, concerning groups of cases of microcephaly and neurological disorders in regions affected by the Zika virus, in particular in Brazil.
– July 17, 2019, for Ebola fever in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the second most serious in the history of this virus.
– .
