It was not initially identified as a potential case. The fourth patient hospitalized in France after being infected with the new coronavirus, an 80-year-old Chinese, indeed fell through the cracks for the first time before being finally detained in hospital. However, he had made it to the emergency room several days ago. But according to his doctor, he did not a priori meet the criteria.
"His condition is serious [...] we will do everything we can but it is severe," said Professor Yazdan Yazdanpanah, head of the infectious diseases department at Bichat hospital in Paris. The patient is in intensive care in Bichat and is on "artificial ventilation".
According to the doctor, this man arrived in France "on January 23" and first consulted the emergency room of the European Georges Pompidou hospital in Paris on Saturday 25. "He had a fever but no cough or respiratory signs , it did not come from Wuhan (epicenter of the epidemic in China, editor's note) but from a city 400 kilometers north: it was far from the criteria and was not retained as a possible case "of infection with coronavirus, continued Professor Yazdanpanah.
Symptoms developed by her daughter
"It was only yesterday (Tuesday), when he developed and worsened a respiratory condition, that there was again a request for classification and the classification was retained because he had respiratory signs", according to Professor Yazdanpanah. The test then turned out to be positive. In addition, the patient's 50-year-old daughter also developed symptoms and a test is underway to find out whether she too is infected with the coronavirus.
Health officials are now working to find out if the 80-year-old patient may have infected others during his visit to the emergency room. "Yesterday (Tuesday) evening, as soon as it was known, there was a crisis meeting [...] to try in a very detailed way to identify all the staff who were in contact with this patient" , said Professor Yazdanpanah.
"We have been able to identify a certain number of people and we will follow all that is recommended in an attempt to monitor them," he said. Among these people, none "is currently symptomatic, there are few patients who have been identified with a major risk, significant exposure," added the doctor.
Modified identification criteria?
According to Professor Yazdanpanah, it is possible that this kind of case could lead to a modification of the identification criteria set by the world health authorities, and in particular an enlargement of the Chinese zone considered at risk.
The other three confirmed patients in France are a Chinese couple, a 31-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman hospitalized in Bichat, as well as a 48-year-old French-born Frenchman hospitalized in Bordeaux.
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The woman is well and her fever has subsided, even if her discharge from the hospital is not yet on the agenda, according to Professor Yazdanpanah. Doctors are "fairly confident" for the 30-year-old man, but he has however been put "under closer surveillance in intensive care" since Tuesday after a "small aggravation". "He is fine but to be more careful, we wanted to monitor him," said the doctor.