Inserm researchers, with the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Sorbonne University and the IRD, analyzed serum samples taken between November 2019 and January 2020. They prove that the virus was already circulating in France in the fall.
- An INSERM study confirms that traces of the coronavirus have been found in France
- An Inserm study confirms that traces of the coronavirus were found in France several weeks before the appearance of the first “official” cases of Covid-19
- The testimonies of several of the people in whom antibodies have been found do not necessarily match the symptoms and the known causes of contamination
A little over a year ago, in January 2020, the first cases of Covid-19 were identified in France. What if they weren’t really the first? It is the assumption of a Research Team made up of scientists from Inserm, the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Sorbonne University and IRD. They analyzed samples taken between November 2019 and January 2020, as part of the Constances cohort. The latter is made up of more than 220,000 adults, and allows the regular collection of serum samples, the liquid part of blood. “Since 2018, we have been offering volunteers to help set up a biobanksays Marie Zins, the scientific director of the project at France Info. They allow samples of their blood and urine to be frozen in large tanks of nitrogen for later research. With Professor Carrat, we thought it would be interesting to find traces of the virus, that is to say the presence of antibodies between November 2019 and March 2020..” This experiment paid off: 13 people tested positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. A second analysis identified the presence of neutralizing antibodies. The results were published in European Journal of Epidemiology.
Symptomatic and asymptomatic cases
“Surveys of 11 of these participants revealed the existence of symptoms that may be linked to infection with the virus responsible for Covid-19 or to situations at risk of potential exposure to SARS-CoV-2 from November 2019. “, say the researchers in a press release. After informing the patients of the presence of these antibodies, investigators collected information from them: travel to Asia, unexplained pneumonia, health of those around them, etc. “Six reported no symptoms in the weeks prior to sample collection, they indicate. Five participants, on the other hand, showed signs of viral respiratory illnesses, and eight were in close contact with people who showed such signs or reported risk situations of potential exposure to SARS-CoV-2.“
Patients with different profiles
The Radio France investigation unit met several of these “patient zero“. Thus, a forty-year-old explains that after receiving his results, he quickly thought of his two-month stay in China at the end of 2019. From October 17 to December 9, he travels with his partner across the country, without ever go to Wuhan, the city where the epidemic had its first outbreak. If his test is positive, the man has never had a cough or fever, and neither has his wife. For other patients, the results of these tests have provided answers to old questions. A 30-year-old resident of Brittany was very ill in the fall of 2019. “JI had like symptoms of sinusitis but with exceptional fatigue at the slightest effort, climbing stairs for example. It lasted several days“, she tells French Radio. At the same time, her husband is sick and coughs so much that he can’t sleep at night. But the young woman never went to Asia during this period. The only explanation: frequent trips to the hospital to treat a broken forearm. Among the other positive people, he has a doctor who thinks he has been contaminated by patients with bronchitis or sinusitis, and also a man, who suspects the products from China that he has handled in the context of his work. Faced with these very different situations, and the possibility of an error in carrying out the tests, the researchers remain cautious, and prefer the conditional: “circulation of the virus and infection by SARS-CoV-2 could have taken place as early as November 2019 in France“, they conclude.
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