Appeared at the end of 2019, the Covid-19 disease is responsible for a global epidemic that is still active. Symptoms, incubation time, contagion, people at risk, screening, treatments … Current knowledge of this new infectious disease.
End 2019, clustered cases of pneumonia occurred in China some of which were fatal. On January 9, 2020, virus responsible is identified, it is a new coronavirus called Sars-CoV-2 responsible for a disease called “Covid-19” by the WHO. A year later, doctors confirm that there is still a lot to learn from this new disease. Symptoms, incubation time, contagion, people at risk … Current knowledge of this new infectious disease.
Covid-19 is the name given by the WHO on February 11, 2020 to a new respiratory infectious disease appeared in December 2019, in China, and caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
- “Co “for” corona “,
- “vi” for “virus”
- “D” for “disease” (“disease” in English).
- 19 for the year of its appearance: 2019.
“We had to find a name that did not refer to a geographic location, an animal, an individual or a group of people” WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus detailed to avoid any stigmatization of the disease. This disease would have been transmitted to humans following the consumption of contaminated meat – bat or pangolin are the two most advanced hypotheses – sold on a Wuhan local market in China.
The first confirmed cases of Covid-19 were detected on December 8, 2019 in Wuhan, China. In France, the first cases were announced on January 24, 2020 (three Chinese tourists) but Professor Yves Cohen, head of the intensive care unit at the Avicenne hospital in Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis), said on May 3 on BFM -TV have detected one case on December 27, 2019. A study published on February 6, 2021 by Inserm in the journal European Journal of Epidemiology has shown that the first cases would even date back to November 2019 in France. From serum (blood) samples collected from 9,144 adults between November 4, 2019 and March 16, 2020 in 12 French regions, the authors identified 353 participants with antibodies against Sars-CoV-2 including 13 collected between November 2019 and January 2020. Investigations revealed that five participants showed signs of respiratory disease virals and 8 had close contact with people who exhibited such signs or who reported situations at risk of potential exposure to the virus, which for the authors “suggests a early circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in Europe“.
The average incubation time is 5 days with a maximum duration of 12 to 14 days.
The manifestations of the Covid-19 disease are now well recognized: they concern in particular the lung, the kidney, the nervous system (including psychiatric manifestations), the heart, the skin, the digestive system and the ENT sphere. Unlike the flu, which sets in suddenly, a coronavirus infection “is done gradually over several days” indicates the Institut Pasteur. Patients report symptoms which appear over a week and a rather long healing time.
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>> More information on the symptoms of Covid-19
Several tests are available in France to screen for Covid-19 disease. The reference one being the RT-PCR test which is done in the nose.
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>> Find out more about Covid screening tests
According to Dr. Gerald Kierzek, “healing occurs after a fortnight when you have mild symptoms. It is spontaneous except when there is a severe form and we find ourselves in intensive care where we need oxygen, where we have pneumonia and there we need medication. “. SARS-COV2 infection can also cause persistent symptoms, beyond 3 weeks after the first clinical manifestations (post-covid syndrome). Asthenia can persist for a long time.
A person with Covid-19 is contagious 2 to 3 days before symptoms appear and up to 8 days later, shows a summary published by Santé Publique France on July 8. In addition, approximately 50% of transmissions would occur during the pre-symptomatic phase of the source patient. Once contaminated, the patient can remain so Several weeks.
No treatment with direct viral activity has scientifically proven its effectiveness in combating SARS-CoV-2. The management adapts to the form of the disease: mild (not requiring hospitalization) or severe (with hospitalization or even admission to intensive care). One year after the start of the pandemic, none of the treatments currently under study has yet been validated. Others are out of the game …
>> Find out more about Covid treatments
Quickly, it appeared that the Covid-19 disease was more serious according to theage, the sex and the presence of comorbidities. Insecurity is another documented risk factor. This factors increase the risk of forms of Covid-19. In France, there are nearly 15% of severe forms du Covid-19.
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>> Learn more about the risk factors and complications of Covid
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