2023-09-08 03:00:00
If the signals are not red for the moment, the health authorities remain vigilant in the face of an increase in covid cases in recent weeks.
We had almost forgotten the covid, but now it has resurfaced since mid-July throughout Western Europe, and Luxembourg is not spared: “We have clearly seen a rebound in contamination in recent weeks, with a slight increase in cases, according to the results sent to us by the analysis laboratories”, confirms Joël Mossong, epidemiologist at the Health Department. Compared to the months of June and July during which the curve of the number of covid cases detected had remained rather horizontal, now it is starting to climb.
To monitor the circulation of the virus in the population, the authorities still rely on the infectious disease reporting system and on data concerning the presence of the virus in wastewater, collected regularly by LIST. “The results of these two sources overlap: they show that there is a certain level of transmission of covid currently in the Grand Duchy, but it remains very low, comparable to what we could observe last May”, continues -he.
If this slight rebound does not worry the health authorities for the moment, they are nevertheless on their guard: the returns from vacation, the important brewing linked to the Schueberfouer and the start of the school year, just like the arrival of a new variant whose characteristics are still unknown, could change the situation.
“We don’t have a lot of samples, which complicates the identification of variants. However, the National Health Laboratory, which is sequencing the virus, has detected the EG.5.1 variant in Luxembourg since July, the one that circulates everywhere in Europe”, explains the scientist, adding that no information on the symptoms of EG .5.1 – a sub-variant of Omicron – or its transmission rate are not available.
New vaccines coming soon
According to him, the end of the holidays could coincide with an increase in infections since social, professional or school contacts are increased tenfold during this period, but the phenomenon should remain minimal. The return of barrier gestures as we have known them is not on the agenda.
“It seems that the immunity within the population is high. Most people have been vaccinated or infected more than once. We are far from the situation of 2020 where no one had ever been in contact with this virus”, he points out. This removes the prospect of a new pandemic, even if unknown variants appear constantly. A new sub-variant of Omicron, BA.2.86, thus appeared in mid-August with a few cases identified in several countries.
To protect people at risk of serious forms, a vaccination campaign coupled with that against influenza should be launched shortly. “We are awaiting the imminent opinion of the Higher Council for Infectious Diseases with the recommendations relating to the anti-covid vaccine”, further indicates Joël Mossong, announcing in passing that the new vaccines effective against the majority variants which are currently circulating will soon be available in Luxembourg.
EG.5 scrutinized globally
Since the beginning of May, the WHO no longer considers the pandemic a global health emergency, but “the virus continues to circulate in all countries, to kill and to change”, underlines the organization. Its EG.5 version is currently the most scrutinized worldwide, because it could carry the rebound.
More than 17% of the cases of covid identified in the world in mid-July were indeed EG.5 (+ 7.6% over one month), according to the WHO. At this time, there is no suggestion that this subvariant poses additional public health risks, but “the risk remains that a more dangerous variant will emerge and cause a sudden spike in cases and deaths.”
In this context, the WHO recalls that vaccination remains crucial. To better stick to the mutations of the virus, the pharmaceutical groups Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax have also developed vaccines targeting the latest sub-variants.
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