Professor Robert Cohen, President of the National Pediatric Council, is a reference in the field of medical care for children and adolescents.
He calls for "additional vigilance" vis-à-vis young people, with the appearance of the English variant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus, which is more contagious.
What information do you have regarding young people, following the English variant?
ROBERT COHEN.
We had discussions between pediatricians, in France, and also with our British counterparts.
The English variant is not, for now at least, causing an additional influx of young patients into UK hospitals.
On the other hand, it turned out that it is more contagious than the classic virus, in children, in adolescents, but also in adults.
So, as a result, there are more young people affected by this new form of the disease.
This was not the case until now.
But serious changes are very rare, and we must also keep this in mind to reassure.
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Has he been spotted in France?
So far only a few cases of the English variant have been detected in France, but it was not specifically sought.
Now that we know that this variant is more contagious, we will have to look more for this specific strain when examinations are done on patients.
We need to know in what proportion this mutated virus circulates on the territory.
Does this change the game for young people in France?
Yes, this mutated English virus is a game-changer for children and teens, in terms of the spread of the epidemic.
Until now, Covid-19 has not been a particular concern for children, except for rare complications.
But with this mutation, as it is more contagious, young people will infect more people, whether they are in their family or at school.
We therefore need to give ourselves more means to detect it, especially at school.
It takes extra vigilance on children.
But this requires what kind of mea
r
es?
Children with symptoms need to be tested more often.
If a child is positive, they absolutely have to stay home, which is not always the case now.
We have to put an end to the idea that nothing is happening at school with this virus, this is not true.
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What precautions should be taken at school?
You need more vigilance than it currently is, apart from wearing a mask.
In particular concerning hygiene measures, to be observed during the canteen.
This common sense advice is reinforced by the arrival of this mutated virus, but also by the progression of the epidemic, in recent weeks.
But are you advocating closing schools and colleges, as is done with some of our neighbors?
As it stands, we are not advocating the closure of schools, colleges and high schools.
This does not seem appropriate to us at the current stage of the epidemic.
And we know that the total closure of establishments also has a very significant impact on children, who are then forced to stay at home all the time, which is not good for their health either.
Between the two, there is a way to find, which involves more massive screening among young people, without going so far as to close classes.