No, the ubiquitous man in the press and on social networks is not Panoramix. Although his long white hair and his look of an elderly scientist might lead one to believe … This is Didier Raoult, 68, professor of microbiology and specialist in infectious diseases. Doctor,director of the IHU, has just slammed the door of the Covid-19 scientific council mandated by the government! And for good reason, he disagrees with Emmanuel Macron’s flagship measure: confinement, which he considers medieval. Very controversial in this crisis, the man is a very recognized scientist … holder of the Inserm grand prize in 2010 and ranked among the world’s most influential researchers in 2015 by the medical journal Thomson Reuters. Its role in the face of Covid-19? He is screaming from the rooftops that he has found a miracle cure to cure Covid-19.
This is a drug already on the market, chloroquine. The hydroxychloroquine molecule is usually used to treat malaria patients. The doctor says it would significantly lower the viral load of patients affected by the coronavirus. But … without a solid study to back it up. Armored with certainties – and a desire to save the world? What better opportunity than this historic pandemic?
Launched on Sunday March 22, a European study called Discovery brings together 800 patients to test the various molecules potentially effective against the virus. Among them, thehydroxychloroquine. For his part, Professor Raoult has embarked on a “savage” test. Which consists in prescribing the treatment to all patients who would like to be administered, after a positive nasopharyngeal test for Covid-19. In Marseille, they were numerous to queue in front of his Institute.
Destroy theories so well established
It is in the Phocaean city that the epic of Professor Raoult was born. He began medicine there after a literary baccalaureate, it is there also that he taught it, before becoming president of the university in the 1990s. In addition to teaching, Didier Raoult is researching. And is passionate about “radically new fields of study, unknown to laboratories or neglected because of their difficulty”, underlines his portrait published by Inserm in 2010. The scientist Raoult makes astonishing discoveries which offer him a decisive place in the history of medicine. He pioneered research on typhus, and the bacteria that cause it, rickettsiae. While scientists were sure that a virus did not exceed 0.2 microns, Professor Raoult is the one who discovers the existence of … giant viruses! In an amide, which he calls “Mimivirus”.
Go against what medicine believed. Prove that science, a discipline that could not be more Cartesian, is subject to interpretation. Kick the anthill: “Nothing amuses me more than destroying such well-established theories” declared Didier Raoult in 2010. Of literary training, he claims a flexibility of mind which scientific factuals would lack. While most doctors worry about the difficulty of finding a cure for Covid-19 and expect months of waiting before a vaccine, the outsider Raoult would have adopted the right look. And found the right remedy, right in front of our eyes. A bit like turning around your house to find your keys, which you have held in your hand from the start.
Didier Raoult: miracle or mirage?
Should we trust Didier Raoult? After all, his findings in virology are impressive and he is described as a brilliant researcher. But … controversial! Didier Raoult is also marked by his obsession with competition and his immodesty: “In my world, I am a world star”, “I am a scientist, this is what is lacking in this country”, he declares regularly. What to worry about the intentions of the man with the false hippie look?
Liberation wonders: Chloroquine miracle or mirage? In these times of generalized anxiety, it is good to have hope. But let us also keep in mind that Raoult was one of those who spoke of Covid-19 as a “flu” that would not reach France. Its solution has so far only been “proven” on a very small sample of people. 24 patients, three quarters of whom were no longer carriers after 6 days of medication. Many French doctors are worried about seeing the drug administered indiscriminately, or worse yet consumed in self-medication. The American President, for his part, declared that he “felt good” about this treatment. Results ? An American couple poisoned themselves by consuming too much chloroquine phosphate. “I am convinced that in the end everyone will use this treatment”, the professor confided to Le Parisien in the March 24 edition. If Discovery gives credibility to hydroxychloroquine, the medicine will only be given to patients hospitalized in serious condition, announced the Minister of Health, on March 23, according to the recommendation of the High Council of Public Health. Anyway, Sanofi is ready, with 300,000 boxes to the hospitals concerned by the study, and enough to provide others.
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