Against the Covid, the treatments are patient

Dfrom January 10, 2020, date on which Sars-CoV-2 was unmasked – and its genome rendered public –, researchers from all continents have embarked on an arms race against Covid-19. On the “upstream” front, that of vaccination, the success is breathtaking: development and production speed records have been shattered. And with efficacy rates exceeding 80%, the vaccines available are ultra-efficient. Admittedly, the virus varies (read episode 1, “Vaccines: a coronavirus, it mutates enormously”) and it will be necessary to adapt the vaccines accordingly. But there is no longer any doubt that it is thanks to them that we will see the end of the epidemic tunnel. Except that, while the syringes are emptying, the sick continue to flow and die in saturated hospitals. Hospital mortality from Covid-19 remains extremely high, although it has dropped significantly around the world over the past year. By October 2020, it had fallen to 36% in intensive care units, down from 42% at the end of May and 60% at the end of March, according to a study published last February in the journal Anaesthesia. Because although the management of the disease has improved, no miracle molecule has yet appeared on the treatment front. However, it is not the announcement effects that were lacking.

In the first months of the pandemic, caregivers had to do with the means at hand. And a little groping.

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