Three cases of coronavirus have been identified in France, health authorities announced on Friday January 24. In China, where the virus originated, 41 people have died.
The Chinese coronavirus has not finished talking about it. On Friday January 24, the French health authorities confirmed that three cases had been detected in France. These are the first in Europe. “We are in the process of tracing the history of these positive patients so as to get in touch with the people they have met”, explained the Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn. In China, where the first cases were identified in December, 41 deaths were counted and the army was called in for reinforcement in Wuhan to try to limit the epidemic.
Regarding France, a case has been identified in Bordeaux. The 48-year-old patient returned on January 22 after a few days in China where he passed through Wuhan (center), the original cradle of the contamination. He presented himself Thursday 23 at SOS-Médecins in Bordeaux with a cough and fever and was hospitalized the same day at the CHU Pellegrin “in an isolated room by specialized medical teams whose competence in infectious diseases is internationally recognized. “, announced the hospital center which “continues its normal operation” without disruption for “the reception of patients”. “The health professionals” of the service “follow the protection protocols in force by wearing (…) gloves, mask and suitable clothing”, it was specified.
According to the doctor who took care of the patient before transferring him to the hospital, the latter had been in France for “at most 24 hours” and had passed through the Netherlands on his return from China. “Because of our operation, by appointment, he met few people in the waiting room, less than 10 people and kept himself away. The risk for other patients is almost zero. “, he clarified.
In case of symptoms, call 15
At present, the man “is fine”, assured Agnès Buzyn. And to specify: “We are in the process of reassembling the history of these positive patients so as to get in touch with the people they have met”. “Today we have the first European cases, probably because we developed the test very quickly and we are able to identify them,” she also said during a press briefing. “You have to treat an epidemic like you treat a fire, very quickly identify the source” and “limit it as quickly as possible” she continued, without being able to give more information on the two other patients, spotted in Paris. . We only know that one of them, back from China, is hospitalized in Bichat.
According to the minister, the incubation period of the virus is probably “around 7 days, between 2 and 12 days”. People who have been in contact with the sick must therefore “take their temperature several times a day, contact center 15 in the event of symptoms and stay at home for the moment to avoid any further contact which would promote the spread of the virus”. What’s more, “for travelers returning from China, it is important to watch themselves, and at the slightest sign of breathing or if you have a fever, you should not go to the emergency room, you must call the center 15 which comes to pick up the patient”, insisted Agnès Buzyn.
In addition to France, two cases have been confirmed in the United States. “China is working very hard to contain the coronavirus. The United States really appreciates (its) efforts and (its) transparency”, tweeted President Donald Trump, convinced that everything “will be fine”. In Asia, positive coronavirus patients have been spotted in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in South Korea, Nepal, Japan, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. In all, 24 cases have been identified outside of China where the epidemic is spreading at high speed.
In China, the province of Hubei in quarantine
This Saturday, January 25, 1,300 cases of contamination have been identified in the country, including 41 fatalities. Of this total, 237 cases would be “critical”, according to the health authorities. The city of Wuhan, where the epidemic started in December, has been placed under quarantine. No one can get out, trains and planes are stuck there. On Friday, the army sent 450 military doctors and medical personnel to the area. With hospitals overwhelmed, a site to accommodate a thousand beds began to be built on Friday. It should be completed in 10 days, assure the public media. In addition to the city of Wuhan, the approximately 56 million inhabitants of the province of Hubei are confined.
But virus screening measures will be extended throughout the country. All travelers with symptoms of pneumonia will also be immediately transported to a medical center.
So far, most of the patients who died were either over the age of 65 or had pre-existing conditions and were immunocompromised.
Fever and persistent cough
If we still do not know the exact nature of the virus, we know that it belongs to the family of coronaviruses, known for more than forty years, at the origin of colds but also of more dangerous diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) , which caused nearly 800 deaths in Southeast Asia in 2003. Again, the virus originated in China.
In terms of symptoms, “the disease is manifested by fever and a persistent cough. It is of a mild but lasting form, and at the same time risks taking a serious form (respiratory failure, cardiac complications, etc.) in elderly people and patients with other illnesses,” the Wuhan Municipal Hygiene and Health Commission said on its website.
As for the transmission from man to man, it would take place by the airways, droplets of saliva or by contact with the hands. For the French present in Asia, the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs recommends avoiding all contact with living or dead animals, not going to markets where animals are sold, not consuming products undercooked or undercooked animals, to avoid close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infection and, finally, to wash “regularly your hands with soapy water or with hydro-alcoholic washing solutions”.
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