The balance sheet continues to grow daily. The new coronavirus now affects nearly 213,000 people worldwide. France lists 10,000 confirmed cases, according to the latest official figures *. To date, 372 people have lost their lives due to the contraction of the virus, on French soil. Given the situation, the French government has decided to apply new containment measures to restrict "travel and contacts" at "strictly necessary".
In addition, all schools have been closed since Monday, March 16, until further notice, for "protect children" and "reduce the spread of the new coronavirus". In fact, according to Emmanuel Macron, Covid-19 is transmitted and spread faster through children, often carriers of the virus.
If most people have it relatively mild symptoms, for certain categories of the population, Covid-19 can prove to be fatal. The government reiterated the need and the importance of daily barrier measures to protect these vulnerable people, who are seriously threatened by the aggressiveness of the virus. At the same time, the government has drawn up a list of people most at risk on its site dedicated to coronavirus. Who are these fragile people facing coronavirus?
Covid-19: people aged 70 and over are vulnerable
Among those at risk are people aged 70 and over. Seniors are likely to contract Covid-19 and develop serious complications. This is why the President of the Republic asked "everyone over the age of 70 who suffers from chronic or respiratory illnesses should stay at home as much as possible".
According to an epidemiological point from Public Health France, published on March 13, three-quarters of the people who died in France are people over 75 years old while they represent only 19% of the confirmed cases on French soil.
The explanation is simple. The frequent pathologies in the elderly, in particular diabetes or cardiac people or suffering from cardiovascular diseases, make them more vulnerable to the virus because they weaken their organism and make it more difficult for them to fight against the new coronavirus. In addition, the body's immune response changes and evolves with age. Result: the main organs, especially the lungs, affected by the virus are less resistant.
Another risk category: pregnant women
Pregnant women from the third trimester of pregnancy is on the list drawn up by the government. Expectant mothers are considered fragile because during pregnancy, the immune system of pregnant women tends to weaken, making them more vulnerable to respiratory infections such as bronchitis or the flu. They are therefore likely to develop a serious form of Covid-19.
"Pregnant women are generally fragile subjects and require great attention. The first information on the impact of the coronavirus on pregnant women and the fetus is reassuring, however, as a precaution, the High Council of Public Health has classified pregnant women from the 3rd trimester as people at risk ", specifies the site of the government.
The chronically ill, frail people facing the coronavirus
The patients "presenting kidney failure"," with a cardiovascular history: complicated high blood pressure, history of stroke or coronary artery disease, surgery "," diabetics ", people with cancer, "cirrhosis patients"or" people with morbid obesity"… All people with chronic illnesses are also identified as people at risk and can experience serious complications if they are infected with Covid-19.
"While patients who reported having no co-morbidity had a 1.4% mortality rate, patients with co-morbidity had much higher rates: 13.2% for cardiovascular disease, 9.2% for diabetes, 8.4% for hypertension, 8.0% for chronic respiratory diseases and 7.6% for cancer ", warns the World Health Organization (WHO) in a report released last month on the situation in China.
Covid-19: caution if you experience breathing difficulties
"People presenting chronic respiratory pathology likely to decompensate during a viral infection ", says the government website. This indication refers in particular to patients with asthma who should exercise caution. Asthmatics are not spared from the coronavirus. Asthma affects 7 to 8% of the general population in France, according to a press release dated March 13 from the Asthma & Allergies Association.
The recommendation for people with asthma so that they don't get the virus is to treat and control their asthma well. And this involves taking their usual basic therapy, including inhaled corticosteroids. The Asthma & Allergies Association advises not to ban them because they help control bronchial inflammation and "do not lower the immune system in people with asthma at the usual doses, unlike cortisone taken by general route".
Inhaled corticosteroids are thus "The best way to get through the epidemic is to have controlled asthma" and avoid getting the virus. Otherwise, asthmatics may develop respiratory complications, in the event of contamination. "On the other hand, corticosteroids are to be banned for treating coronavirus. They must be used wisely, where they are useful", alert the association's pulmonologists, in their press release dated March 13.
* This article was published on March 20, 2020 and some information may have changed since then.
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