Arab scientist with French team to treat Corona: We have treated thousands of patients and the virus may disappear by summer

Hisham Abu Mariam - Paris interviewed her

Al-Jazeera Net conducted a dialogue with Dr. Sarah Bellali, a research engineer and member of the medical team managed by the prominent French virologist Didier Rawault at the University Hospital in Marseille, which is one of the largest scientific medical institutes in Europe, and asked her about the latest laboratory and medical results regarding the emerging corona virus that causes For "Covid 19".

Dr. Sarah - who succeeded with her team in taking the first microscopic image of the Corona virus - said that the treatment protocol proposed by Professor Raoult through the use of chloroquine medicine saved the lives of thousands of patients in France and in a large number of countries in the world, and the results of research confirmed that the drug is not It has no complications or serious side effects, according to the latest international medical studies.

She emphasized that this therapeutic protocol, consisting of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, reduces the reproduction of the virus and reduces its epidemiological strength, and that the infected person does not transmit infection to others, ruling out finding a vaccine in the near future and confirming that the virus is still enveloped in a lot of mystery.

And about the accusations made a few days ago by a French professor who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine, that the Corona virus was a Chinese industry by mistake, Dr. Sarah explained that all the hypotheses remain out of the question, but science - especially the field of scientific and medical research - believes in evidence and evidence, and until now there is no Scientific evidence implicating China in the virus industry.

She indicated that there are positive signs that the Corona virus will disappear by next summer.

Can you introduce yourself to Al Jazeera Net readers? Who is Sarah Balali?

My name is Sarah Bellali, 28, from Casablanca, Morocco. After receiving a BA in physics, she joined the University of Ben Amsik Sidi Othman in Casablanca, where she received an international master's, specializing in health and development sciences in 2015, and after that she joined as a research student at the French Institute and University Hospital in Marseille, which is managed by French Professor Didier Roulette, a senior scientist Viruses in the world. Currently, I work as an engineer in the electron microscopy team at the same institute.

 How was you chosen to work on Professor Rault's team?

Professor Raoult supervised my PhD thesis in Microbiology in 2019. My scientific research - praise be to God - was greatly appreciated and admired as I patented. After my graduation, Professor Raoult offered me to join his team, which includes the best experts and researchers of all nationalities in one of the largest medical institutes in Europe.

Can you explain the patent to us in a simple way?

An invention is a solution for maintaining intestinal microflora that is used to treat other types of bacteria that destroy the digestive system, through the patient taking this medicine in the form of a capsule instead of a very expensive and sophisticated method.

What is your job in the French world team Roulette?

Before the appearance of the Coruna virus, I used to work on the electron microscope team on types of viruses and bacteria. We have also been working on a medical project with the Japanese company Hitachi, and I apologize for going into the details of the project because I am bound by professional secrecy, and we will publish the results of our research officially about God.

But with the advent of corona, we have become entrenched in all our research on this virus only, and our team (electron microscopy) was the first to take a picture of the corona virus.

 Can you explain to us the type of microscopic experiments that you do daily?

We study hundreds of samples every day with a microscope that enables us to identify the virus in just hours, through its shape, platoon, life cycle, how it multiplies and how it penetrates the cell. Our team is also studying the effect of Professor Roulette's treatment protocol which has so far yielded good results.

Professor Raoult was the first in the world to advocate the use of chloroquine after it was found to be very effective against the virus. Can you explain to us how this drug interacts with the virus?

- The therapeutic protocol consisting of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, which was developed by Professor Raoult and adopted by many countries of the world, has so far achieved excellent and impressive results not only in France but in many countries. The drug was given to 3082 people infected with the virus in Marseille Hospital, and only 13 people died, most of them elderly, and this is a very positive result. Also, the city of Marseille recorded the lowest number of deaths not exceeding 100 deaths, compared to the rest of the French cities, where the total deaths reached more than 23 thousand deaths. 

Through the results of our research, we have noticed that this treatment protocol reduces the reproduction of the virus and limits its epidemiological strength, thus avoiding serious respiratory problems. Also, the infected person does not transmit the infection to others, and therefore the risk of spreading the virus decreases between citizens and members of society.

 Why is the importance of the therapeutic protocol of Professor Raoult?

The importance of this protocol is demonstrated by the fact that it is a drug that is available in the market in a timely manner, and is cheap and gave excellent results up to now. Professor Rawlett knows this medicine well and has used it for years to treat thousands of malaria patients. He also knows that its side effects can be controlled, and therefore it does not constitute any danger.

At present, there is no effective drug other than this treatment protocol, as certified by a large number of international health authorities.

It was noted that an international scientific study published a few days ago confirmed that more than 50% of doctors around the world use hydroxychloroquine to treat "Covid 19" patients.

There are great concerns that the virus will be genetically transmitted. Is this risk still present? 

This is the question that occupies and employs all experts and researchers currently, but until now there is no scientific study confirming this hypothesis .. We need in-depth and sophisticated studies to answer this question by studying the genome of the virus and comparing the first samples of Chinese Wuhan patients where it first appeared, With other samples for other patients from different countries of the world.

Professor Luc Montagnier, Nobel Prize winner for medicine, detonated a bomb when he mistakenly considered the Corona virus as a Chinese laboratory industry. What do you think of this hypothesis?

Nobody can confirm the validity or error of this hypothesis, and this type of accusation requires evidence. There is no doubt that Professor Luc Montagnier is a prominent medical figure, but he did not provide evidence to support his claims, just as this type of virus is not his specialty .. What I know is that the virus industry is possible, but it is a very complicated process, and wise is not who makes it, but who can deceive . All assumptions remain contained, and God knows best. 

Professor Raoult says the Corona virus will likely disappear by the end of May, on what he built this hypothesis?

- Professor Rawlett relied on a set of indicators, among them that respiratory viruses are usually seasonal, for example acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) viruses and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) after their disappearance years ago did not appear again. Professor Rawlett considered that the rapid and short time decline in the number of deaths and injuries in France and a number of European countries, is a positive indication that the virus may disappear before summer. The puzzling question is: Can we see other waves of the epidemic in the future?

Recently, a number of countries, such as Germany, Britain, and the United States, announced that vaccine experiments to combat the Corona virus were announced. Are you aware of the type of experiments conducted by these medical laboratories?

These are not vaccines, but experiments in their early stages. In order to obtain a vaccine, we will have to wait at least a year or more, because obtaining a vaccine passes through a series of complex procedures and experiments. And it will take a long time to produce a vaccine in large quantities for millions of people around the world. Medical institutes around the world usually communicate with one another by looking at each other's scientific publications.

What do you think of the reality of scientific research in the Arab world, especially in the medical field?

- Frankly, a bitter reality, and although we have great human and intellectual energies in the Arab world, the reality of scientific research is weak and neglected, especially in the field of medical scientific research, because it is not invested in and taken care of. I am optimistic, and I believe that a large number of countries - including the Arab countries - absorbed the lesson after the Corona epidemic, and therefore there is hope that it will give more attention to the field of scientific research, especially in the field of health.