The current rise of the Covid-19 epidemic is a “beginning of a wave” although “we are not yet in a very significant phase of ascent”, explained this Wednesday on BFMTV the immunologist Brigitte Autran, president of the Monitoring Committee and Anticipating health risks (Covars).
“The trend is not good, the trend is upward”, particularly due to the push of a sub-variant of Covid-19, he declares.
The Omicron sublineage called BA.5, which is largely in the majority in France, “has already been superseded, swept away by the BQ.1.1 subvariant, which is the baby of BA.5,” he explains. “It is a variant that is more contagious and explains the current increase in the epidemic.”
“We still don’t know if it’s worse”
In its last point, dated November 24, Santé Publique France underlines in fact that “among BA.5 sublineages, BQ.1.1 continues to increase” and represented 39% of the sequences analyzed in mid-November, compared to 29% the last week of October.
Brigitte Autran assures that the growth of this subvariant is observed “all over the world”, it is “also what is causing the rage in China at the moment, and it is a variant that we still do not know if it is worse”. , more virulent in infected persons.
This subvariant “is probably almost identical to BA.5 in its characteristic of causing severe forms, but it is more contagious. That is why it is absolutely necessary to protect yourself, you have to get vaccinated ”, says Brigitte Autran.
It calls on the population eligible for the vaccine to receive an injection, recalling that “vaccines guarantee protection against severe forms of Covid and against death.” The immunologist also defends the need to respect barrier measures, and requests the return of the mask, at least in public transport, places of great promiscuity and therefore potential contamination.
Source: BFM TV
