They are for the most part vaccinated three times – or even more – once morest Covid-19, theoretically have access to preventive treatments, but remain among the most exposed to severe forms of infection of the SARS-CoV-2. Transplanted, treated with powerful immunosuppressive drugs for a tumor or an autoimmune disease…, patients with weakened immune defenses are increasingly worried, as are those who take care of them.
These last weeks, he is hammered that people hospitalized for Covid-19 in intensive care are mainly unvaccinated. But this essential message overshadows another reality: patients with severe immunosuppression are also over-represented. While their number is estimated at 230,000 in France, they currently represent, in some hospitals, up to 30% of patients hospitalized for Covid-19 in intensive care or intensive care.
For many of them, who were already taking drastic precautions since the start of the pandemic, fears have escalated even further with the appearance of Omicron and its increased contagiousness. The situation is all the more delicate since most of the monoclonal antibodies have lost their effectiveness once morest the new variant and the expected new molecules should not be available until February. In a text published on January 2 in the JDD, six patient associations appeal to the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, to avoid a “Human drama” by taking measures to protect this population.
The virus weighs heavily on everyday life
“The situation is distressing”, summarizes Tatiana Kaczmarek, 34, kidney transplant recipient and nurse in a long-term geriatric care unit in Savoie. After three doses of vaccine, since September she has benefited from monthly injections of Ronapreve (Roche and Regeneron laboratories) as a preventive measure. The combination of two monoclonal antibodies being ineffective on Omicron, it will switch, from January 11, to Evusheld (AstraZeneca), another combination of antibodies authorized for early access in these patients.
Since the arrival of the new variant, the nurse has redoubled her precautions and carried out one PCR test per week. She does not plan to stop working in the coming weeks, but scrupulously wears an FFP2 mask, which she is also the only one to have adopted in her department. One thing is certain: “Until the next injection, my 4 year old daughter will not go back to school”, says Tatiana Kaczmarek. A prevention reflex far from exceptional in such a context. “We have a lot of testimonials from people who took their children out of school before the Christmas holidays and will not put them back in January,” assures Yvanie Caillé, founder of Renaloo, an association that signed the forum published in The JDD.
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