A first case of Ebola infection occurred in Spain. In France, specialists are quite calm: the risk of an epidemic is almost zero.
The alerts multiplied, but did not: the Ebola virus made its first incursion on the European continent. A nurse’s aide was infected in Spain while caring for two infected missionaries in West Africa. In the USA, Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian infected with Ebola and treated in Texas, died on Wednesday.
For her part, Marisol Touraine, Minister of Health, recalled this Wednesday that “France is ready to face”, even if, she added, “zero risk does not exist. A wind of psychosis is also blowing in Europe, but French specialists are more moderate: the country does not risk an epidemic similar to that of Africa.
Cases from Africa
The opinions are categorical: Ebola is likely to arrive in France. However, there is no point in panicking. A study published in PLOS Current Outbreaks assessed the risk of the virus being reported in France at 75%, but it would more likely be a case of infection that occurred in West Africa. “There is always a potential risk of seeing one or more individuals arrive who would become infected in Africa and return to Europe during the incubation period”, also estimates the Prof. François Bricaire, head of the “Infectious and Tropical Diseases” department at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital (Paris), contacted by why actor.
The most likely situation, in the eyes of this specialist, is that a caregiver is infected by a hospitalized patient. Nevertheless, the possibility of an “autochthonous” infection, that is to say one which occurs in the country itself, as was the case in Spain, should not be excluded.
Listen to Prof. François Bricaire, Head of the “Infectious and Tropical Diseases” service (Pitié-Salpêtrière): “ What we can most fear is that a patient will not declare himself or be badly questioned; there is then a risk that it will drag on for several days and that there will be contact. “
An almost zero risk of contact
Even in the event that an indigenous case occurs in France, an epidemic is not possible. On the one hand, because the case would be quickly identified by the various emergency services. On the other hand, because “we are absolutely not contagious during the incubation period, which should reassure all people”, underlines Professor Bricaire. “We can have a small outbreak, a few cases, but that should not give rise to an epidemic event like in West Africa,” adds the specialist. An opinion shared by the Prof. Elisabeth Bouvet, from the “Infectious and Tropical Diseases” department at Xavier-Bichat Hospital in Paris.
Listen to Pr Elisabeth Bouvet, infectious disease specialist in the “Infectious and Tropical Diseases” department (Xavier-Bichat): ” We do not have to be afraid of meeting someone in the metro who has Ebola. People who are sick go to the hospital or stay in their rooms. “
Well-prepared teams
If specialists are not very alarmed by the possible arrival of Ebola in France, it is also because they have prepared for this hypothesis. The health authorities have developed a patient care plan, organized around referral establishments, such as the Bégin hospital in Saint-Mandé (Val-de-Marne), which supported the French nurse contaminated in Liberia. In Île-de-France, always, the Xavier-Bichat hospital (Paris) would take care of cases diagnosed in France, which would be installed in negative pressure rooms. The reception protocol is particularly well supervised.
Listen to Pr Elisabeth Bouvet : ” The patient is placed in isolation, the caregiver protects himself and no samples are taken until the return from the Institute of Health Watch. “
The staff of the referral infectious disease departments receive special training in handling patients and in putting on and removing protective suits. These are two stages where the risk of contamination is particularly high. “We carry out exercises so that the staff is prepared to set up this organization, get dressed so that there is no risk of contact,” specifies Pr Bouvet. When it comes to undressing, it is very important to always have two people there to check that the procedures are correctly applied ”. It would be precisely this training that would have been lacking in the Spanish nursing assistant, according to one of her colleagues.
.