2023-08-11 14:25:55
Talk about the Covid-19 epidemic returns in the midst of summer in France and other countries, with a rise in the number of infections that calls for vigilance, although it has not reached high levels.
Resurgences of the epidemic were also reported in the United States, Britain, India and Japan.
The peoples have overcome the SARS-CoV-2 virus, after it continued to spread for more than three years through many waves, but it is now returning to the minds of the French. Some indications confirm its resurgence.
Visits to emergency departments with suspected Covid-19 in the week from July 31 to August 6 increased by 31 percent compared to the previous week, with 920 cases recorded, according to data from Sante publique France.
The Public Health Agency confirmed that “the numbers remain moderate”. Epidemic waves during the summer or winter of 2022 recorded more than four thousand cases per week.
With SOS Medecins, “medical examinations for suspected COVID-19 infection are increasing in all age groups”, reaching more than 1,500 examinations at the beginning of August, an increase of 84 percent in one week, according to Santé Public France. .
The World Health Organization said on Friday that the number of cases detected worldwide increased by eighty percent over a month, with an additional one and a half million injuries from the tenth of July to the sixth of August.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, confirmed on Wednesday during a press conference that the organization no longer considers the epidemic a global health emergency since the beginning of May, but that “the virus continues to spread in all countries, and it continues to kill and mutate.”
The EG.5 mutant, which scientists call “Eris”, is currently the most monitored because it may be behind the resurgence of the epidemic.
Reasons for returning
Experts believe that summer gatherings and a decline in the level of immunity are factors that may play a role in the return of the epidemic as well.
This variant, branching from Omicron of the XBB dynasty, appears to be more spreadable than others, possibly due to the impact of new genetic mutations, and may be more able to bypass immune defenses.
The World Health Organization stated that more than 17 percent of the Covid infections that were detected in the world in mid-July are due to the “A-G5” variant.
Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva, stated that this variant “has been detected in India, but also in other Asian countries, in North America, and in Europe, where it tends to replace the previous dominant strains.”
At this point, “the available evidence does not indicate that EG.5 poses additional public health risks compared to other circulating Omicron variants,” according to the WHO.
But Tedros stated that “the risk of a more dangerous mutant emerging remains, which will lead to a sudden increase in infections and deaths.”
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Monitoring the evolution of the epidemic is further complicated by a lack of data since the number of tests has decreased and follow-up measures have been discontinued.
And Antoine Flahaut considered that “the epidemic situation is very blurry all over the world.” “It is necessary for the health authorities to redeploy a reliable health system to monitor Covid,” he added, calling in particular for conducting wastewater analyzes in Europe.
With the passage of time and waves, the impact of Covid, as well as the number of people requiring hospitalization and the number of deaths, have greatly diminished, thanks to a high level of immunity acquired through vaccination and / or infection, but it has not disappeared.
Antoine Flahaut asked, “Whether immunocompromised people and the elderly will be required to take tests in the event of symptoms, even if they are simple, so that they can benefit from early and effective antiviral treatments to reduce the risk of serious forms.”
Immunization remains essential, and the World Health Organization urged Wednesday to “intensify efforts to increase immunization”.
While anti-Covid vaccines lose their effectiveness against infection over time, they are still considered very protective against dangerous forms.
To better mimic the virus’s variants, the pharmacy groups Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax are preparing vaccines targeting the XBB strain, as recommended by the World Health Organization in the spring.
Many countries, including France, plan to implement vaccination campaigns focusing on the most vulnerable groups in the fall, in addition to campaigns against influenza.
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