Published on : 08/05/2022 – 08:59
South Africa is currently experiencing a new wave of Covid-19 contaminations. Two new Omicron sub-variants, the BA.4 and BA.5 have appeared. The daily average has been rising for three weeks, after the country had seen a lull throughout March.
It is still too early to know precisely the virulence of these variants, but if we are to believe initial data, vaccines continue to offer good protection against severe forms of Covid-19 and reduce the risk of death.
« We note in South Africa in particular an increase in the number of Covid cases and this increase is linked to the emergence ofa new variant which is the BA.4 and the BA.5, from the same family as Omicron, but they are sub-variants of Omicron. In France, we had an epidemic of BA.1, and then we had BA.2. Today, the virus circulating is above all BA.2 “Explains Professor Yazdan Yazdanpanah, head of the infectious diseases department at Bichat hospital in Paris and member of the Covid-19 Scientific Council.
« In South Africa, there was no outbreak of BA.2, reminds the teacher. So even if it’s an assumption, and we have to be careful ; as BA.4 and BA.5 are closer to BA.2, we think that maybe what they are seeing in South Africa, we will not see in France and Europe. »
Vigilance in France, despite the epidemic situation “ controlled »
Although cases of BA.4 and BA.5 remain rare in France, vigilance is still required: “ For the moment, we see some cases of BA.4 and BA.5, but not in a significant way. Afterwards, we also know that the peak shifted by a month, a month and a half compared to the country where it emerges. So for now, we really have to watch. These are things that we have put in place, in France or elsewhere at the international level, in terms of genomic surveillance, such as Emergen [Consortium pour la surveillance et la recherche sur les infections à pathogènes émergents via la génomique microbienne] for example in France. ».
In any case, the indicators are now green concerning the epidemic with a decrease in the circulation of the virus and hospitalizations. But according to Professor Yazdan Yazdanpanah, despite the strong vaccination in France and the large number of people who have had the Omicron variant, the French are not necessarily immune. However, ” we have weapons today that are more important than two years ago, than a year ago, to fight against its variants: weapons in terms of surveillance, weapons in terms of vaccines and weapons in terms of treatment.
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