On his Twitter account, Professor Didier Raoult assured Tuesday April 14 that “the coronavirus epidemic is disappearing in Marseille”. At the peak of the epidemic, there were up to 368 new cases per day at the IHU Méditerranée Infection, compared to 60 to 80 new ones today, explains the famous researcher.
- Professor Raoult believes that the Covid-19 epidemic is coming to an end in Marseille
- The ARS of the region replies that this prognosis is “premature”
“The coronavirus epidemic is gradually disappearing from Marseille”. This good news comes from Professor Didier Raoult. In a video posted Tuesday April 14 on his Twitter account, the famous director of the IHU Méditerranée Infection declares that “there is a very significant decrease in the number of cases detected and even more significant in people who come to be detected when they are asymptomatic.”
During the peak of the epidemic, there were up to 368 new cases per day at the IHU, compared to 60 to 80 new cases per day today, explains the controversial scientist. “It is possible that the epidemic will disappear in the spring and that in a few weeks there will be no more cases for strange reasons but we are used to seeing this for viral diseases”he continues, recalling that “the increase in mortality linked to this new virus is not significantly visible to the entire population”. “It does not change life expectancy”he insists.
New scientific information bulletin: Coronavirus, decline of the epidemic in Marseille.https://t.co/mpLy0itrcq
— Didier Raoult (@raoult_didier) April 14, 2020
If the news of a gradual disappearance of the Covid-19 epidemic in Marseille is cause for celebration, it unfortunately seems very premature to the director of the PACA Regional Health Agency. Asked by France Blue ProvencePhilippe De Mester assures that “it is premature to predict the end of the epidemic. Unfortunately, we don’t know. We have been recording, it is true, for a few days a decrease in the progression of the epidemic, not at all a regression. The epidemic will continue and it will take another few weeks.”
The Raoult controversy
Also, it is essential to continue to respect the containment measures in the coming weeks, in order to avoid a second wave of contamination, he insists. “I may not have the notoriety of Professor Raoult, but you have to be very serious about containment measures. This is how we will get there”he says.
Professor Raoult has been talked about a lot in recent weeks by encouraging the prescription of chloroquine, a drug traditionally used against malaria, in patients with Covid-19. After having already published a first encouraging study on the subject in mid-March, he unveiled a second larger essay. a few days ago. The study followed 80 patients for 6 to 10 days during March at the IHU in Marseille, who were administered a combination of hydroxychloroquine (derivative of chloroquine) and a pulmonary antibiotic called azithromycin.
The results mention “a favorable evolution” for 65 patients (81%), while twelve were put on oxygen therapy (i.e. 15%). Three went into intensive care and another 86-year-old died. If most of the cases represented only a mild form of Covid-19, Didier Raoult has ensured from the start that chloroquine is especially effective in the first infectious stage of the disease. According to him, this drug would therefore limit the case and thus the risk of spread.
However, like the first, this study has been the subject of much controversy, with several specialists criticizing it in particular for the lack of a control group, ie a group of patients who received no treatment or a placebo.
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