The first indigenous cases of coronavirus were recorded in Germany and Japan. In concrete terms, this means that people contracted the virus without having traveled to China, which is a first since its appearance in the Wuhan region. The news is likely to reinforce distrust around this epidemic, the symptoms of which may suggest those of the flu. or a cold. Only a diagnostic test can make the difference with other respiratory diseases frequent in winter.
“You don’t call the 15th when you’ve been to a Chinese restaurant”
According to the government’s background page, “the current state of the art is fever and cough or shortness of breath.” Nothing different, therefore, with the flu, which is spreading in China and France.
“We cannot make the clinical diagnosis. These are the same symptoms of influenza, bronchitis or pneumonia,” Serge Smadja, secretary general of SOS Doctors, told BFMTv. This association of doctors was confronted with the management of the first confirmed case on French soil in Bordeaux. This case, followed by two in Paris, only fueled concerns.
Sampling and diagnostic test
Last weekend, the Val d’Oise SAMU recorded 25% more calls, mainly for unfounded concerns: “We call 15 when we have been in contact with someone who comes back from China and have symptoms, or come back from China yourself and have signs of the flu; but you don’t call the 15th when you’ve been to a Chinese restaurant or when you’ve crossed in the street of people of Asian origin “, recalls Agnès Ricard-Hibon, head of the SAMU department of Val d’Oise, while many people of Asian origin denounce the racism they have been subjected to since the beginning of the epidemic.
“The question is simple at the outset: where are you from in China? Do you have a fever or do you cough? These signs associated with the presence in the area of the virus allow us to specify the risk of contact “.
Three competent laboratories
In the presence of a risk, the SAMU then decides to refer the patient to one of the 36 referring health establishments. The ambulances have sachets with outfits:
“In these kits we will find an overcoat, a waterproof apron, a pair of gloves, a charlotte, a protective mask and a pair of glasses”, details Estelle Bonnal, manager at SAMU 95.
The patient will wear a surgical mask to avoid projections. Once admitted to an infectious disease service, a sample is taken. It looks like a cotton swab that is inserted deep enough into the nose to collect cells.
This sample is then carefully packaged and transported to one of the three competent laboratories to analyze it: the National Reference Center (CNR) for respiratory viruses in Paris or Lyon, or to the Biological Emergency Response Unit of the Pasteur Institute. Only the diagnostic test carried out in one of these three units makes it possible to know if the patient is infected with this new coronavirus.
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