«We have become a people of virologists, where everyone talks about the virus. Too bad that in Italy, unlike Germany, the USA and others, the last chairs in virology were awarded in 1982, and the last primacy dates back to the mid-nineties “. Giorgio Palù does not say that one of those chairs was his, just as he was the last primary in that specialty. «Then everything was incorporated into Microbiology. Of course, viruses are also microbes, but microbiology deals with bacteria, protozoa, parasites, fungi, and then also viruses. Now let’s see how much there would be a need for a single and specific discipline in this particular matter ». Among his students he was famous for his frankness, a talent he seems to have preserved. One of the most regarded Italian scholars abroad. Emeritus professor of microbiology in Padua, professor of neuroscience in Philadelphia, outgoing retired president of the European Society of Virology, called back into service by Luca Zaia who entrusted him with studies to isolate and sequence the virus. «I work closely with Azienda Zero, the structure that organizes the regional epidemiological system. And today we start a very important study on serum-prevalence ».
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Why do you think it is?
«The blessed tampons give us the measure of the incidents, or how many cases we have per day in a given period. Prevalence, a statistical data that is obtained through a blood test, shows instead the distribution of the virus and can provide us with fundamental information “.
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Which?
“Crossed with other data, it can allow us to understand if there is a specific immunity to the virus, which at the moment no one knows, how long it can last, and can give us indications on how to protect us from the return infection, which in the future will become not a problem, but “the problem”.
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Are you moving forward?
“The intention is that. We need, and I speak of the whole of Italy, data that we do not currently have in our possession. We need to quickly map asymptomatic individuals who are or have not come in contact with the virus. In a phase of gradual recovery of the activities, which I hope will come soon, these are the things to know, not others ».
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Do we get back to coronavirus?
«There are some anecdotal cases of people sick several times. But they don’t do statistics. But we know the history of this virus. “
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What could we learn?
«Like Mers and Sars of 2012, and the others of that family who give simple bronchitis, these are viruses that change little. But, for example, it happens that you get a cold several times ».
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How long will it take to get an answer?
«We have to wait for information on the variability of the sequence of this specific genome. Unlike many, however, I am not pessimistic. Sars died out in a year, Mers reappeared in very sporadic cases. This virus changes, but little ».
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Why does Lombardy have a mortality rate that has even reached 14% while Veneto is fixed at 3.3%?
«They are two regions with a very different socio-morphological dimension. Codogno and Lodi are cities where you live in a condominium, Vo ’Euganeo is a village on the Euganean Hills”.
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Exhausted the premise?
«Veneto still has a culture and tradition of public health, with widespread safeguards in the area. Lombardy, much less ».
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Were any mistakes made?
«It is not for me to say. But in Lombardy they hospitalized everyone, soon running out of beds. 60% of confirmed cases. Here, the general practitioners and ASL hygiene services have filtered: only 20%. By keeping asymptomatic positives at home, the overcrowding of hospitals and the spread of infection have been avoided. “
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In Lombardy, instead?
«Nobody remembered Sars’ lesson. Which was a nosocomial virus, as is Covid-19. Hospital diffusion. Lombardy’s choice to transfer the sick from the Codogno hospital, which was the first outbreak, to other structures in the region, proved unhappy. “
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How much?
“Very. Because he exported the infection, without the medical staff being monitored immediately. They acted on the emotional wave. All inside. Instead they had to keep out of it as much as possible. Someone did not understand that this is not a clinical emergency and assistance to the sick, but a public health emergency. “
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Can you explain the difference?
“A new virus, against which the population is a virgin, must be addressed first of all with preventive measures, with isolation, by blocking the infection. Not with the First Aid-Hospitalization automation. “
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A cultural issue?
“Also. Aforma mentis. In Lombardy there has been a healthy public-private competition for many years. Where can we see everyone’s greater efficiency? From people admitted to the emergency room. By admitting, we wanted to show efficiency in the clinical setting. But in this way no leeway was made against the virus ».
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April 1, 2020 (change April 1, 2020 | 9:08 PM)
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