Chinese authorities announced on Sunday that 17 new cases of the respiratory virus from the same family as SARS that appeared in December in Wuhan have been reported, bringing the total number of victims to 62.
The mysterious viral pneumonia which declared itself last December in the city of Wuhan, in central China, claimed new victims. This Sunday, January 19, the municipal authorities indicated the appearance of 17 new isolated cases in Wuhan, including three serious. Two of these patients are said to be in too critical a condition to be moved.
In total, 62 people were therefore infected with this mysterious virus from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) family in Wuhan. Among them, eight are still in serious condition and two have died. 19 were able to be treated and have now been discharged from hospital. The other patients are still treated in isolation.
At least 1,700 possible contaminations
If the Chinese authorities are worried, it is because the incriminated strain is a coronavirus close to that at the origin of SARS, a highly contagious respiratory disease which had claimed nearly 800 victims in mainland China and in the province of Hong Kong. in 2003.
Like SARS, “the symptoms reported in patients are common to several respiratory diseases and pneumonia is common in winter,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said in early January.
The concern is all the greater since, according to scientists from a research center at Imperial College in London, the number of victims is largely underestimated by the Chinese authorities. In an article published on Friday, they estimate that the virus has infected more than 1,700 people.
In addition, three cases have been confirmed abroad: two in Thailand and one in Japan. According to Wuhan authorities, none of these patients has been in contact with the wholesale market for fish and live animals in the city, which is suspected of being the starting point of contamination. While “no explicit evidence of human-to-human transmission has been found” at this time, the Municipal Hygiene and Health Commission said in a statement that “the possibility of limited human-to-human transmission cannot be excluded. “. However, it remains “relatively weak”.
As a precaution, the market where the first contaminations were identified was closed on 1er January by administrative decision.
Should we be worried?
Faced with uncertainties about the infectious source and the incubation period, should we fear a global epidemic?
Asked by France Info, Bruno Lina, professor of virology at the Lyon University Hospital and the International Center for Research in Infectiology, believes not. “Are 40,000 people going to be infected with this virus in France tomorrow?” The answer is no’. So far, there is no reason to worry. We know how to handle such cases. The number of deaths (two) is relatively low compared to SARS: at the time, half of the patients died”, he explains.
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