Viral circulation is on the rise in France and it seems that children are particularly affected by this new increase in contamination. Professor Antoine Flahault, epidemiologist, is worried regarding a potential resurgence of long Covid among the younger generations.
Are children the first to be affected by the epidemic rebound that is currently hitting the country? In France, nearly 127,000 new cases of Covid-19 are recorded every day on average: a figure which has increased by 42% in one week. This rebound in contamination was above all driven by the BA.2 sub-variant, Omicron’s little brother. According to the latest survey carried out by Santé Publique France, “the BA.2 sub-lineage is now the majority in France” and represents nearly 73%” of cases of contamination.
And it seems that the younger generations are particularly affected by this epidemiological recovery. Contamination in schools is a key indicator in this area: in spn weekly update published on Friday March 25, the Ministry of Education thus affirmed that 81,424 students had tested positive for Covid-19 in seven days. At the end of the week, 3,080 classes were closed in France due to viral circulation. To compare, the point that had been shared by the ministry on February 26 reported 1,584 cases of contamination among students and only 72 closed classes.
“Young people are usually more often contaminated by respiratory viruses because of the strong promiscuity of their school environment, which occurs in closed and often poorly ventilated places, explains to The Midi Dispatch Professor Antoine Flahault, epidemiologist and director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva. The BA.2 variant is no exception to this rule, but since it is a more contagious variant than the previous ones, it is even more prone to spread among young people.”
A dangerous sub-variant?
More contagious? Sure, but is the BA.2 sub-variant also more dangerous for younger generations? In any case, this is what a study published on March 21 by researchers from Hong Kong suggests, on the pre-publication platform SSRN medical weekly The Lancet. The study compares the wave of contaminations with the variant Omicron which currently strikes Hong Kong with the previous episodes of contaminations.
According to the document, 1,147 children were hospitalized between February 5 and 28. Hong Kong had “only” 737 in the previous four waves. According to the researchers, “a lack of exposure to coronaviruses in the past two years, resulting in a lack of immune reaction” might explain an increased risk of severe forms of the disease in younger generations.
Professor Antoine Flahault also points to the “low vaccination coverage” of children in France: “France has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe among eligible young people”. If the epidemiologist recognizes that “this should not result in a significant increase in hospitalizations for respiratory failure” in the country, children with comorbidities and insufficiently vaccinated might however “pay a heavy price for the BA.2 variant”. Currently, 491 patients aged 0 to 19 are hospitalized following being infected with the virus.
Beyond vaccination, the epidemiologist is also concerned regarding the abandonment of wearing a mask in classrooms: this might “greatly” promote “the risks of long Covid in unvaccinated children with or without comorbidities” , concludes the professor.
