According to the updated results of the ComCor study from the Institut Pasteur, meals play a central role in the transmission of Covid-19, all the more so if they take place in closed places, without ventilation.
Groupings in enclosed spaces without ventilation remain the main vector for the spread of Covid-19. This observation of the ComCor study conducted by the Institut Pasteur confirms its first results published last December. After this publication, the scientists continued their research on the places and circumstances of contamination by extending their study panel to 77,208 participants (against 30,330 initially).
“The analysis of more than 10,000 unique out-of-home contacts at the origin of an infection shows that this contact took place indoors, windows closed, in 80% of cases; indoors, windows open, in 15% of cases, and outside in 5% of cases “, observe the researchers.
“Increased risk of infection” with a school child
It also appears that in 45% of cases, the person who tested positive for the infectious disease knows the person who infected him and 18% suspect a particular event. Regarding contagions that have appeared in the home, it is above all a passage of the virus in the couple.
But “this proportion has decreased over time (from 64% in October to 55% in January), while contamination by children increases (from 24% in October to 33% in January)”, notes the study.
Indeed, having a child in school represents an “increased risk of infection” for adults, especially when they are looked after by childminders (+ 39%), whether they go to college (+ 27%) and in high school (+ 29%). Outside the home, contamination still comes mainly from the family circle (38%), then from the professional environment (27%), and finally from friends (19%).
Meals, accelerators of contamination
Whether the contamination took place inside the home or outside, scientists at the Institut Pasteur draw the same conclusion: meals play a central role in these transmissions. The meridian break is responsible for 35% of infections within the family, 42% of contaminations between friends and, to a lesser degree, 15% of contaminations in the workplace.
In the light of these new findings, the Institut Pasteur reiterates the importance of “communicating well about the risks associated with encounters, particularly in a closed environment without ventilation, and without respecting barrier gestures. These are probably the main sources of transmission of the disease. virus”.
“Isolate yourself from the onset of symptoms”
In a health context that Olivier Véran described Thursday as “tense and worrying”, scientists again insist on the need “to isolate yourself immediately from the onset of symptoms, and not when the results of the test return”.
“Contagiousness is maximum within five days of the onset of symptoms,” they point out.
Finally, the researchers warn that the latest results of their studies may be called into question by the arrival of the English, South African and Brazilian variants in France, “the English variant being about 50% more transmissible than the traditional virus”.
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