In a French start-up, during the Covid-19 period.
-
Romuald Meigneux
It is clear that the hydroalcoholic gels did not prevent a third wave of coronavirus in France.
The risk of infection by the hands has long been overestimated, and we now know that the vast majority of contamination is by droplets and by transmission in the air, especially during meals.
The season 3 confinement decreed Thursday, with authorization to leave without a time limit, seems to take into account the fact that an elevator or a poorly ventilated office is more dangerous than a walk in the forest.
Maps of France which turn red, resuscitations which push the walls, contaminations curves which fly away… In recent days, the news seems to stutter.
As in a bad science fiction film, March 2021 takes on the air of March 2020 between this new wave and this season 3 confinement. But a year after the Covid-19 explosion, the time is no longer for astonishment and to uncertainty.
At least in part.
We know better how we get infected and where.
And contrary to what has been said for a long time, “manu carried” infections, that is to say after having touched a surface or hands, remain very rare.
Hence an adaptation of prevention messages to be amplified.
"Hand infections are less than 10% of contaminations"
For a long time, therefore, doubts persisted on the duration of the “survival” of the coronavirus on surfaces.
An American study published in the
New England Journal Of Medicine
in March 2020 revealed that it remained suspended in the air for up to three hours.
And up to 24 hours on cardboard, two days on stainless steel and three on plastic.
Cleaning your smartphone, door handles and yoghurt therefore seemed advisable.
Since then, several articles have returned to this overestimated risk.
In particular that of
Nature
in February, which insisted: the Covid-19 being caught mainly by the air, the WHO and the health authorities must therefore modify their prevention messages.
"Hand infections are extremely residual, less than 10% of contamination," confirms Benjamin Davido, infectious disease specialist at Raymond Poincaré Hospital in Garches (AP-HP).
It would take a very large amount of virus to create a contaminating situation.
For example, someone very sick sneezes into their hand, grabs the handle of a supermarket cart, then a healthy person touches that cart and rubs their eyes.
»Have the surfaces been miscalculated?
"No, these times were correct, but these are data
in vitro
, not on humans", justifies the infectious disease specialist.
"Washing your groceries is of no interest!" Laughs Matthieu Calafiore, general practitioner and lecturer at the University of Lille.
The habit that we have all acquired of washing our hands with the gel is very good, but it is not enough, far from it!
"
Be careful not to deliver an incorrect message.
“Hand washing has become a common practice, we can be proud of it, nuance Benjamin Davido, also crisis medical director.
The measures taken have made it possible to limit other infections, for example gastro and influenza.
This reduces “Covid-like” infection situations and therefore requests for consultations, hospitalizations, etc. ”
The gel is good, wearing your mask well is better
Despite everything, some wonder: has the general public received and remembered the right messages?
“If the problem were surfaces, it would be known.
We would not need to be confined, ironically Benjamin Davido.
This was the government's message in February 2020: if you wash your hands, no worries.
A year later, despite all the barrier gestures and a curfew for four months, the contaminations are still at their highest.
Today, we leave home wearing a mask, we press the elevator button with our sleeve, we put gel on our hands 18 times a day ... and we take off the mask to eat with our colleagues or his friends.
Not exactly the most effective for avoiding Covid-19 ... The latest study by the Institut Pasteur, published in March 2021, looks at the places of contamination.
It is the family sphere that is at the origin of 63% of them.
“Meals, both in private and professional settings, are the most frequently reported circumstances,” notes this work carried out on 77,208 people infected from October 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021. “Some do not realize that they are putting themselves in danger, regrets Benjamin Davido.
And many have no qualms about putting the mask under their noses when not washing their hands seems oblivious!
"
There were, as we know, several failures in the communication on barrier gestures.
After explaining that the masks were unnecessary, the government finally assured that they were indispensable.
“The chronology is quite edifying: last summer, we imposed the masks outdoors before saying that it was important to wear them in the workplace, remembers Matthieu Calafiore, member of the collective Du Côté de la Science.
However, the probability of catching the coronavirus outdoors is very low.
"
Ventilation, an essential part of prevention
Another aspect of prevention that has not been highlighted so far: ventilation of the rooms.
"It was not until December 2020 that the pictogram" ventilation "arrives in the communication of the ministry, regrets the general practitioner.
It's still shy, but it's starting to change.
"
The decision unveiled Thursday evening by the government to let the inhabitants of the 16 reconfigured departments aerate without time limit and within a radius of 10 km (and not 1 or 3 km as in previous confinements) suggests that the message has evolved.
Seeing yourself outdoors, wearing masks, is less dangerous than having a family meal or taking an elevator without a mask.
Some caregivers nevertheless believe that a reminder on the importance of wearing your mask well and ventilating would bode well in this runaway phase of the epidemic.
"Especially with the variants, especially English, contagiousness increases", recalls the infectious disease specialist.
Many are under no illusions: this new confinement will be very difficult to respect.
But Matthieu Calafiore concludes on a note of hope: “People are fed up after a year.
But we can hope that with fine weather, they will end up outside, where even a bit of wind reduces the risk.
Until then, on our small scale, we can all play a role in reducing contamination.
If you take the risk of receiving, do it with the windows open!
»Easy and inexpensive.
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