“We will probably have to go towards containment”. Even if the conditions for further strengthening of sanitary restrictions come under a “political decision”, the President of the Scientific Council, Jean-François Delfraissy, left few doubts this Sunday evening on the prospects that await France in the coming weeks.
In question, the variants of the coronavirus, in particular the English variant, presented as more contagious. This “completely changes the situation” according to him, because they are already reaching levels of 7 to 9% of new contaminations in certain regions, such as the Paris region, and they train “the equivalent of a second pandemic”.
Effective masks and respect for barrier gestures
Guest of France Bleu Paris this Monday morning, Benjamin Rossi, infectious disease doctor at the Robert-Ballanger hospital in Aulnay-sous-Bois, explains that although it can be more contagious, this English variant “is the same virus. It is the same infection, with a slightly greater contagious power.”
To avoid the transmission of the variant, “we must have effective masks, use better tools, and better respect barrier gestures”
“In Aulnay-sous-Bois, we were diagnosed with variants, in particular one of the first cases of an English variant detected on French territory, in a young woman who had no sign of severity”, details Benjamin Rossi. “We have had a few isolated cases. As soon as there is a suspicion of an English variant, we send the test to be able to sequence the virus and detect it. An investigation is constantly being carried out.”
“The variant as such brings greater infectivity to Covid-19”, he continues. “The virus mutates constantly: some of these mutations give it negative characteristics that cause it to die, some give it benefits such as making it more contagious.”
A more lethal variant?
Despite its greater contagiousness, the management of patients in hospital and the attitude to adopt in the face of this variant is similar.“Its mutation makes it easier to enter cells, it takes less exposure to catch it, but it goes through the same routes, it is the same virus, it is the same infection with a contagious power. little more important. “ The most important thing is therefore to strictly respect barrier gestures.
Children can be carriers of the variants, and faced with the hypothesis of a closure of schools in the event of new confinement, the doctor answers: “We see that the children do not form severe. It would be more to protect their parents and the rest of their family.”
As for the greater mortality caused by this variant, a British study is being analyzed. According to this study, for 1,000 patients over 60, there would be 13 or 14 deaths, compared to 10 for Covid-19 with SARS-CoV2.
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