Hello,
After the summer, contaminations start to rise again thanks to the return to school and the resumption of school and collective activities. Should we then be worried about this eighth wave that is coming? A priori, no, according to experts who point to the low level of deaths and hospitalizations. Collective immunity and vaccination protect us against serious forms. A recall campaign is also announced for the fall with three new vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna targeting the original strain and variants of Omicron. However, an effort still needs to be made, emphasizes Professor Flahault, on improving indoor air quality. Airing, filtering, so many ways to fight against all viruses that are transmitted by aerosol and to arm yourself against future pandemics.
Good reading,
Camille Lestienne, journalist at Le Figaro.
“The world has never been in such a good position to end the pandemic”, welcomed last week Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, pointing to a number of deaths at its lowest since March 2020. Confusing optimism as an eighth wave of Covid looms in Europe. In France, it is true, contaminations are on the rise again with a seven-day average of nearly 30,000 daily cases. An increase largely attributed to the resumption of school and collective activities. The mortality and hospitalization figures, on the other hand, are very low, which suggests that the health crisis is well behind us. According to the scenarios on the table, Covid-19 would enter an endemic phase where natural immunity and regular vaccination would be sufficient to avoid severe forms of the disease. Unless a new variant plays spoilsport. “The problem is that we do not have the means in France to ensure surveillance, deplores Mircea Sofonea to Figaro. The epidemiologist regrets that research projects to ensure new epidemiological monitoring are not funded: “We are turning the page, without having learned the lessons of the chapter we have just finished.”
The numbers to remember
Source: Public Health France as of September 20, 2022
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The way is open for a new booster vaccination campaign against Covid-19 in the fall in France. The High Authority for Health (HAS) last Tuesday gave the green light to three anti-Covid-19 vaccines adapted to Omicron. Two are developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, the third by Moderna. They are bivalent vaccines, ie they target the original strain of the virus and the BA.1 variant of Omicron or the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants. The recall campaign will be coupled with that of the flu vaccination and targets people at risk of severe form, their entourage and caregivers. “To consider a very broad revaccination, vaccines would be needed whose impact on the transmission of the virus is solidly proven”, estimates with the Figaro the immunologist Jean-Daniel Lelièvre.
“Improving indoor air quality must become a priority,” warns Professor Antoine Flahault in the columns of Le Figaro. The director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva is still surprised at the lack of effort in France to improve ventilation in public places. “We now know that the transmission of pathogenic agents by aerosol goes far beyond the framework of Covid-19 alone, this is also the case for influenza viruses, RSV, which is so contagious in children, the tuberculosis bacillus and of many other infectious agents", recalls the scientist. The school, where we continue to advocate hand washing as a priority when it is a marginal route of transmission, should be the priority, then bars and restaurants. Professor Flahault cites as an example the Asian countries which have developed numerous tools for measuring air quality and points in Europe to "the flaw of a vaccine-only policy, a policy that is certainly reactive but so little proactive, so little in the 'anticipation".
The world is far from ready to face future epidemics. Such a stark warning comes from the report of the Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the Covid-19 pandemic, published last week. The 28 experts in public policy, international cooperation, epidemiology, vaccinology, economics, sustainable development and mental health, painted a very black picture of the management of the pandemic. No one escapes it, neither international bodies like the WHO deemed too slow, nor governments undermined by resentment and inefficiency, nor the media incapable of fighting "fake news", nor even public opinion that is too suspicious. . “Our most fundamental recommendation is the strengthening of multilateralism in all its crucial dimensions: political, cultural, institutional and financial”, plead the experts.
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The virus is transmitted by droplets and aerosols. The barrier gestures detailed by the Ministry of Health must be observed to protect themselves and others:
The disease is most often manifested by cough, fever or feeling feverish, loss of smell and taste, fatigue. If after a few days, you have trouble breathing or are out of breath, you should contact 15. The symptoms would be lighter with the Omicron variant, similar to those of a cold: sore throat, headache, runny nasal.
In case of signs of the disease, the most important thing is to get tested. The test, PCR or antigen, remains free for non-vaccinated people on medical prescription or after having been identified as a contact case by Health Insurance. In the event of a positive result on a self-test, a confirmation PCR test is recommended. While waiting for the result, you must isolate yourself and wear a mask. If the test is positive, isolation must last 7 days from the first symptoms for vaccinated people, 10 days for unvaccinated people. It can be broken on D 5 or D 7 respectively, if you have a negative test and you have had no symptoms for 48 hours. Good to know, since March 21, 2022, contact cases no longer need to isolate themselves, vaccinated or not, but wearing a mask is recommended and teleworking is preferred as far as possible.
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See you soon.
