“Covid-19 is here”. The epidemic is on an upward slope in France, where a new highly transmissible version of the virus, a few days before Christmas. According to Benjamin Davido, infectious disease specialist at the Raymond-Poincaré hospital in Garches, Covid is happening again “to feel significantly”, he explained this Thursday to franceinfo. “The circulation of the virus is very intense”confirms Étienne Simon-Lorière, head of the National Reference Center (CNR) for respiratory infection viruses at the Pasteur Institute.
“Bundles of indications converge”, he emphasizes. “In recent weeks we have once again observed people doing pharmacy tests and self-tests”details Benjamin Davido, as well as “hospitalizations”. In the emergency room alone, last week, more than 4,350 weekly visits for suspected Covid were recorded, and more than 1,820 hospitalizations followed. In Alsace, the regional health agency activated the white plan on Thursday due to a tense situation in hospitals.
“Since the start of the pandemic, waves have occurred approximately every four months, mainly due to a drop in population immunity”to which is added “the predictable winter resurgence” due to “the drop in outdoor temperatures and more time spent indoors, where viral transmissions are easier”explains infectious disease specialist Xavier Lescure, member of Covars (health risk monitoring and anticipation committee).
The authorities call for a recall
In this context, health authorities reiterated their call to be vaccinated for vulnerable people, particularly those over 65. For “have a good holiday” and so that “hospitals should not be overwhelmed this winter”the Minister of Health called on Wednesday to “a rebound in vaccination” against Covid and against the flu. Evoking “those who are going to find their parents, their grandparents at Christmas”Aurélien Rousseau judged that“we would all be more reassured if everyone around the tree was vaccinated.”
Several variants of the virus (XBB.1.5, XXB.1.16, EG.5, BA.2.86) are currently under enhanced surveillance around the world. A sublineage of BA.2.86, called JN.1, is specially scrutinized. In France, at the beginning of December, 30% of Covid cases recorded in the laboratory fell under JN.1. “Appeared suddenly and much more transmissible than its predecessors, JN.1 has an immune escape” who is “important”, specifies Étienne Simon-Lorière. In other words, its mutations give it greater resistance to vaccination and previous infections. “It’s not because you’ve had the disease that you can’t get it again,” warns Benjamin Davido.
However, “if you were infected with the virus less than six months ago or, better, vaccinated less than six months ago, the chances of ending up in hospital because of JN.1 are very reduced, despite all its new mutations”. The virus “will be eliminated before causing a severe form of the disease in the vast majority of cases, but can a priori be transmitted”according to Etienne Simon-Lorière.
Without infection or recall, on the other hand, the risk is greater. According to Benjamin Davido, patients who consult the emergency room or are victims of “severe forms” are first “people who have not had a booster vaccination”. “It’s a shame, because it’s a preventable disease, and one that can be treated if diagnosed early.”deplores the infectious disease doctor. “We must not count the doses of vaccine for Covid”, he pleads.
Furthermore, if the impact of Covid on hospitalizations and deaths has greatly diminished as mutations progress, the specter of a post-Covid syndrome (or long Covid) remains. “Several hundred thousand” of French people suffer from lasting after-effects months after infectionand support remains “unsatisfactory”alerted Covars at the beginning of November.
Abandoning barrier gestures
The health authorities were also concerned about the poor respect for barrier gestures. According to a Public Health France survey carried out in September, barely more than one in two French people consider it necessary to wear a mask if he has symptoms like a cough or fever. “In France, we have not yet adopted this barrier gesture which is essential” and remains associated in people’s minds with Covid alone, regretted Caroline Semaille, Director General of Public Health France.
“We must remember that visiting elderly people during the holidays really requires being careful”insisted Isabelle Parent, epidemiologist at the Public Health France agency, during a press conference organized Wednesday by Public Health France for the publication of weekly figures.
The mask remains recommended “in the event of symptoms, in busy places and in the presence of vulnerable people“, according to Public Health France. In certain hospitals, such as in Chambéry and Aix-les-Bains, since this Wednesday, it has become compulsory again. Collectives of patients and caregivers called for an obligation at the end of November”in all healthcare establishments.