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The reassuring message from the European public health body: "The variants circulating in China are already in the EU and do not pose a challenge"

2022-12-30T13:51:00.293Z


The ECDC recommends extreme vigilance due to information gaps, although it does not foresee an increase in cases on the continent


The variants of the coronavirus that have been detected so far in China have previously circulated in Europe and, therefore, do not pose a threat to the population of the continent given the high immunity achieved.

This is the encouraging assessment made of the information available by the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC), whose conclusions EL PAÍS has had access to.

“The variants circulating in China are already circulating in the EU and as such do not pose a challenge to the immune response of EU citizens.

Given the increased immunity of the European population, as well as the prior emergence and subsequent replacement in the EU of variants currently circulating in China by other omicron sublineages, an increase in cases in China is not expected to affect the epidemiological situation. in Europe.

This is based on the ECDC evaluation made with the information obtained, ”says a statement from the agency.

The variants currently reported by China, according to the ECDC, are BA.5.2, BF.7 and BA.2.76.

In addition to the travel-related cases, variants BA.5.6, BA.4.6, BA.2.75.2, BM.4.1.1, and BA.2.3.20 have also been detected to be circulating in China.

None of them is new or unknown in Europe.

This optimistic message must be taken, however, with a point of caution because the European authorities do not trust that they have all the information on what is happening in China, either because the authorities do not share it or because the country's health system be overrun.

For this reason, the EU Health Security Committee, meeting this Thursday, recommended that Member States increase the sensitivity of surveillance systems to detect the emergence of a possible new variant as soon as possible by increasing genetic sequencing resources. .

The ECDC illustrates this with the following note: “The number of cases in China reached its maximum, with 28.61 cases per million, on December 2.

In the last three weeks, the incidence has decreased, probably because fewer tests are being carried out and therefore fewer infections are detected.

The agency's forecasts are that China will register "high levels of infections and greater pressure on health services in the coming weeks due to low population immunity and the relaxation of restrictions."

Countries such as Spain, Italy and the United States have decided, despite this information, to impose the first controls at airports on travelers from China, who will be asked for a negative diagnostic test or a completed vaccination certificate.

The main fear is that a new variant could emerge with an impact on the epidemiological evolution, either because it has a greater vaccine escape, is more contagious or causes more serious clinical pictures.

What you want to avoid is that, when a hypothetical new variant is detected, it is too late and the new form of the virus is so widespread that it is impossible to control its circulation, as has happened on other occasions during the pandemic.

For this reason, ECDC ensures that, together with the Member States and the European Commission, it will closely monitor the situation and review the risk assessments in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and in contact with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) and similar agencies around the world.

Source: elparis

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