Some 120,000 registered in less than four days. On Facebook, the group “Didier Raoult vs Coronavirus” has been full of Internet users since its creation on Friday. All support the infectious disease specialist who advocates the use of chloroquine to treat patients with Covid-19 or, at a minimum, they do not understand that the molecule is not given to more patients.
For the past three days, numerous publications have been shared on this group, which is public and open to everyone. One finds there, pell-mell, press articles concerning the recommendation of the health authorities not to use chloroquine except for serious cases of Covid-19, visuals with messages or video extracts, or even personal texts. Each of these posts generally collects tens or even hundreds of comments in a few hours.
"Avoiding hundreds or even thousands of deaths"
The same feeling emerges from all these messages: misunderstanding, while the number of new cases and daily deaths in France is increasing day by day (in total, 19,856 people tested positive and 860 deaths recorded Monday evening).
“With the number of dead there, I don't understand why we are not trying to save lives at all costs. That's what bothers me: if it gets carried away like in Italy, we could have avoided hundreds or even thousands of deaths with chloroquine ", argues with Parisian Florent Lacasse, 39-year-old sports coach based in Aix-en -Provence.
“What annoys me is that we are wasting our time. If this product can really save lives, I don't understand why we don't use it more, ”adds Christine. In her region of the Grand Est, this 52-year-old lawyer was notably marked by the 20 deaths in Ehpad in the Vosges, announced Monday.
According to these members of the group, there is no point in waiting for the end of the European clinical trial on chloroquine launched on Monday, the first results of which are expected in two weeks. However, no comprehensive scientific study has yet proven the effectiveness of the molecule against Covid-19. "But we haven't found anything better to treat this virus and Professor Raoult's tests are conclusive in many cases," objected Corinne, 59. Living in Morocco, she refers to the twenty patients on whom the Marseille infectiologist tested chloroquine, with results, according to him, "spectacular".
Didier Raoult unknown so far
Many supporters of Didier Raoult also recount having taken chloroquine during a trip without suffering any inconvenience. “With my husband, we took nivaquine [an antimalarial that contains chloroquine, editor's note] when we left for Egypt for three months. Neither he nor I had any side effects, ”explains Christine, for example, to the Parisian.
On the other hand, most of them did not know Didier Raoult before the crisis broke out. They discovered it by looking at ways to treat the coronavirus. For Christine, it was during a vacation in Croatia, the country where she comes from, at the beginning of 2020. "A Croatian media spoke of him by titling 'the French have found ', because an antibiotic associated with the treatment by chloroquine is made in Croatia, ”she says.
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"His name vaguely told me something. And then, when I saw his photo, I said to myself: it's crazy, he's the one who will save us, ”laughs Fabien. This Francilien refers to the allure of Didier Raoult, with his white and long hair.
Florent Lacasse was better informed, he who lives a few dozen kilometers from Marseille where the doctor practices. "I had already heard about his research work because I am quite interested in the medical field, so I am not surprised to hear about him today," said the young father. "At least he took the bull by the horns," he ignites. From now on, Professor Raoult is described on Facebook as a "visionary" or as one who "will save France".
The divided medical community
The reproaches of internet users are aimed primarily at the government, accused of not "protecting the French" or even "hiding things". "The high authorities are always reluctant as soon as the solution does not come from the seraglio," claims Corinne. According to her, Didier Raoult, supported by a petition having collected more than 200,000 signatures in less than a week, pays for his status as a "maverick". Some messages, sometimes conspiratorial in tone, also denounce "the influence of the labs" on Emmanuel Macron, who would explain his refusal to generalize the use of chloroquine pending a possible vaccine.
What is chloroquine, a miracle cure for coronavirus according to Professor Raoult?
Doctors who call for caution regarding the use of chloroquine against Covid-19 do not find more thanks to the eyes of the supporters of Didier Raoult. The scientific and medical community is divided, and even heads of departments in infectious diseases or intensive care are opposed to the issue. What sorry Christine: "They shoot themselves in the legs and it exceeds me. I want to tell them: hurry up, to avoid the dead! "
