Several countries including France, the United States, China and Australia are trying to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus.
For several weeks, all eyes have been on the gradual evolution of the new coronavirus (2019-nCov). And for good reason, coronaviruses have already been the cause of serious epidemics: ebetween the 1er November 2002 and the August 31, 2003the one says “SARS” (Sars-CoV) had infected more than 8,000 people in around 30 countries, causing 774 deaths, mainly in China, at hong kongto Taiwanand in South East Asia. Between 2012 and 2016, thehe coronavirus “MERS” (Mers-CoV) for “Middle East respiratory syndrome” had in turn affected 1,714 people and killed 618, including one in France.
Born, it would seem, At the heart of a seafood market in Wuhan, central China, this new type of coronavirus has also passed from one continent to another in record time. According to the latest figures, 5,974 confirmed cases and 132 deaths have been counted in China. In France, the health authorities count 4 confirmed cases. The urgency is such that researchers from several countries are working to find a vaccine.
The Institut Pasteur at work
In France, the team of Doctor Frédéric Tangy, head of the “vaccine innovation laboratory” at the Institut Pasteur, had already developed several potential vaccines against SARS and MERS. “We have a technology that allows us to create vaccines much faster than in the past”, explains the researcher to The Expressreferring to the genetic modification of a serum used against measles.
“We are using measles as a carrier, adding genes from targeted viruses into its genome.” However, the delays are long; researchers are expected to take about three months to produce the vaccine and test its effectiveness in mice. Then, human trials are long and costly: “We will need an industrial partnership and external financial support”. The continuation of the study will depend on the evolution of the epidemic.
In the United States, scientists from the American National Institutes of Health (NIH) have also started their research. As well as their colleagues from the Doherty Institute in Melbourne (Australia), who even managed to recreate the coronavirus in the laboratory. Russian and Chinese researchers are also working together to develop a vaccine, the Russian consulate in the Chinese city of Guangzhou said.
Reminder of symptoms
The 2019-nCoV virus, which causes the disease, is transmitted between humans by air like the flu: an infected patient contaminates the ambient air inhaled by people near him talking, coughing or sneezing. The virus can also be transmitted through physical contact such as a simple handshake, or the exchange of an object. Note that a person can infect another without even knowing that he is sick.
The symptoms, described by the researchers in the scientific journal The Lancetare as follows: a fever above 38.1°C (observed in 98% of cases), body aches, chills, coughing spells (listed in 76% of cases), headaches, intense fatigue (observed in 44% of patients), diarrhea or breathing difficulties in the most severe cases (55% of patients concerned). Doctors observed bilateral nodules in the lungs of confirmed patients, as well as fluid compressing certain areas of lung tissue.
Very similar to flu symptoms, these manifestations are to be taken very seriously if you are returning from China, have been in contact with people returning from this country or have flown recently.