INTERVIEW
Speculation about the appearance of the coronavirus in France has been revived by the declarations of the athlete Elodie Clouvel. The Olympic vice-champion of modern pentathlon recently claimed to have contracted a coronavirus-like illness at the World Military Games in Wuhan last October. Several athletes, who participated in the competition, also reported symptoms similar to Covid-19, according to reports from Europe 1. The Ministry of the Armed Forces reacted by assuring that it had received no reports of cases that could prove to be, a posteriori, the coronavirus.
But then, was the virus able to enter France last October, without the authorities noticing? We asked Doctor Jimmy Mohamed the question on Wednesday evening on Europe 1.
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A "highly probable" hypothesis
"Yes, this hypothesis is very likely. It is reinforced by the recent discovery of a zero patient in December, who would have contracted the coronavirus when he was labeled flu at the start," said the doctor. "Especially since the symptoms of coronavirus in young and healthy people can resemble any respiratory virus. And then when you travel, you get sick. Air conditioning is often blamed on airplanes," says Jimmy Mohamed.
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"A retrospective and statistical interest, but not necessarily very important in terms of health"
"It is therefore quite possible that the virus has been circulating for a little while, perhaps October or November. What we do know is that in January, general practitioners noticed somewhat strange influenza-like illnesses, which didn’t really look like the flu and they may have been coronavirus, "said the doctor. However, this nuances the interest of this search for the "zero patient".
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"Anyway, that does not change much with the current epidemic. Only serology will tell if the infection you had was coronavirus. But even with this serology, you are not sure that antibodies could protect you. It has a retrospective and statistical interest, but not necessarily very important from a health point of view, "he concludes.