Was France affected by the Covid-19 before anyone thought so?

• In France, the first “official” case of coronavirus dates back to January 24, 2020. It was a man returning from a trip to Wuhan in China.
• But some doctors question this information and claim to have identified older patients. Professor Yves Cohen announces that he has discovered one dating from December 27.
• This work could make it possible to advance in the knowledge of this coronavirus and especially in the way in which the epidemic has spread.

It is not that they are short of work ... And yet, several French doctors currently devote a little of their time to reviewing the patient files that they had to treat at the very beginning of winter. And even to verify the biological tests carried out at the time in order to discover if the first patients infected with the coronavirus were not on French soil much sooner than we think.

Officially, France registered its first three cases on January 24. Still officially, the first patient to die - an 80-year-old Chinese tourist - dates back to February 15. "We called him" patient zero ". But in fact, with hindsight, it was undoubtedly the patient five or seven… ”testifies today Philippe Pinilo, the doctor who treated him in Crépy-en-Valois (Oise).

After looking in the mirror of his cabinet, the practitioner acquired the certainty of having actually faced his first case a few days before. "A 40-year-old woman employed by an airline with an unusual viral syndrome," he says. Her husband explained to me that she had been sick as never ... Today, I am sure of myself. "

How to conduct the investigation to find the "zero patient" of an epidemic? https://t.co/i8Ky2rNaU4 via @ 20minutes #Coronavirus # epidemic # health

Suspicions on the supermarket fish stall

Flight attendant. Military. Pastor. Even secret agent. Several French surveys have attempted to identify this famous "patient zero". With all the necessary reservations. And without any certainty. Head of the intensive care unit at the Avicenne hospital in Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis), Professor Yves Cohen went back a little further in time by announcing, Sunday evening, that he had identified a case dating from December 27.

🔴 Professor Yves Cohen says that a patient had Covid-19 in France from December 27 pic.twitter.com/R5ipK2fmXC

“We resumed the PCR tests carried out on patients who had pneumonia in December and January. Out of 24 patients, we had one that was positive for Covid-19 on December 27, ”said the professor on BFMTV. As in the film Contagion , he then carried out the investigation to find out how this patient - now in good health - could have been infected.

“He was sick for a fortnight and he infected his two children but not his wife who works in a supermarket, at the fish stall. We wondered if it was not related to fish of Chinese origin, but she only works on French products… ”Possible explanation: she would have been contaminated by“ people of Chinese origin ”working at the sushi stand next door. Asymptomatic, she would then have contaminated her husband without realizing it, assumes Yves Cohen…

Bronchitis that lasted two weeks…

Not really a surprise for Franck. Known on Twitter under the pseudonym "The Doc", this doctor recalls the work of Italian and Chinese researchers who also believe that the virus appeared in their respective countries before it was officially said. "Before having a 'serious case', there are bound to be less serious cases," he deciphers. For a very long time, we thought that China was far from us, when the virus was probably already there… ”

According to Italian researchers, the virus would have entered Lombardy between the second half of January and the beginning of February, weeks before the first epidemic outbreak was confirmed there around February 20. //t.co/G2BIbMULe3

But don't count on him to pour into conspiracy theory! “Every winter, we sometimes treat flu patients who are negative for the flu test. We then say to ourselves: "It is a virus." Except that this year, it may have been the coronavirus… ”Enough to encourage all the doctors to take out the files from a few weeks ago. "When I look at some scanners made two or three months ago, I tell myself today that they were Covid +", continues "The Doc". Same feeling with Philippe Pinilo. "I have to think back to those patients who could not get out of their bronchitis and who suffered for two weeks ..."

Our file on deconfinement

Still it is necessary to find a use for all this information other than to satisfy our personal curiosity. “Knowing the origin allows us to understand the spread of the virus. This can call into question our way of thinking and isolating the sick, ”says Franck again. Professor Cohen thinks no less. He has already announced that he will publish his work on his patient dated December 27 in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents this week. And invited all his virologist colleagues to get back to work to do the same.

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