Using a machine normally used on cancer cells, researchers from the Gustave Roussy Institute, in Val-de-Marne, made observations that could prove crucial in the detection of severe forms of Covid- 19.

A test could emerge if confirmed.

Once again, luck may have done it right.

Normally specializing in pediatric cancers, researchers from the Gustave Roussy Institute, located in Villejuif in Val-de-Marne, have made advances that could prove decisive in the anticipation of severe forms of Covid-19 in the patients.

>> Find Europe Soir with Julian Bugier in replay and podcast here

A machine diverted from its usual use

Last spring, in the midst of a health crisis, these researchers took the initiative to use one of their latest machines to analyze blood samples from Covid-19 patients.

Usually, this machine, called Aurora, allows them to determine the identity card of cancer cells using laser beams.

This time, it allowed them to make a very specific observation: patients progressing to a severe form of Covid-19 have very specific white blood cells in their blood.

"What happened in the case of Covid-19, in people who have a severe form, is that these famous white blood cells did not have time to mature in the bone marrow. So they were fruits which were not ripened which were found in the blood ", illustrates Aymeric Silvin, who directed the work at the Gustave Roussy Institute.

CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS

> Covid-19: why the increase in the number of cases is greater than that of hospitalizations

> INVESTIGATION - Coronavirus: towards a new shortage of masks and gloves?

> Faced with the rebound of the Covid-19 epidemic, screening centers are overwhelmed

> Holidays: should grandparents worry about looking after their grandchildren?

> Coronavirus: the 5 mistakes not to make with your mask

The hope of a test to anticipate severe forms

Another observation made by the researchers: these patients have too high a quantity of calprotectin, an inflammatory protein in their blood.

The good news is that this work paves the way for a possible test to anticipate the serious forms of Covid-19.

Because these blood anomalies are well identifiable and can be with less sophisticated machines than those of Gustave Roussy.

A clinical trial including a thousand people has also been launched at the Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris.