France sees rise in Covid cases due to new variant – 12/14/2023 – Health

Almost four years after the start of the pandemic, “the circulation of the virus is very intense”, Étienne Simon-Lorière, head of the National Reference Center (CNR) for respiratory infection viruses at the Pasteur Institute, told AFP.

The expert explains that JN.1 appeared suddenly and in a much more transmissible form than its predecessors, with resistance almost as significant as viruses from the XBB family.

At the beginning of December, JN.1 represented 30% of Covid cases diagnosed in the country.

The search for medical care in hospitals due to Covid has once again registered a “slight increase”, especially for the elderly, states the latest bulletin from Public Health France (SPF), published a week ago. In emergencies alone, more than 4,350 weekly visits were recorded due to suspected Covid, followed by more than 1,820 hospitalizations.

Since the beginning of May, the World Health Organization (WHO) has not considered the Covid pandemic a global health emergency. However, in November, the WHO reaffirmed that Covid continues to be “a threat”.

New variant

Several variants of the Covid virus (XBB.1.5, XXB.1.16, EG.5, BA.2.86) are under increased surveillance around the world. A sublineage of BA.2.86, called JN.1, has been especially scrutinized.

However, “if you were infected with the virus less than six months ago or vaccinated less than six months ago, the chances of ending up in the hospital because of JN.1 are very low”, despite all its new mutations, explains Etienne Simon Lorière about the danger of the new variant.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, waves of contamination have occurred every four months, mainly due to the decline in the population’s immunity”, explains Xavier Lescure, member of Covars (Committee for monitoring and anticipating health risks).

The expert adds that “the resurgence of the disease in winter was predictable”, due to the drop in temperatures and because people spend more time indoors, where “viral transmissions are facilitated”.

The resurgence of Covid, combined with the emergence of other acute respiratory infections such as flu and bronchiolitis, could increase pressure on hospitals, which last year faced a “triple epidemic”.

To “have a good holiday” and so that “hospitals are not overwhelmed this winter”, the French Minister of Health made an appeal, this Wednesday, for the population to seek vaccination against Covid and the flu. According to Aurélien Rousseau, “we would feel calmer if everyone around the Christmas tree was vaccinated.”

The protective mask continues to be recommended “in case of symptoms of the disease, in highly frequented places and in the presence of vulnerable people”, according to Public Health France. In some hospitals, such as the cities of Chambéry and Aix-les-Bains, in the southeast of the country, use has become mandatory again.

(With information from AFP)