This is the new popular wisdom:My Covid test is negative, so it’s definitely a good flu!After almost three years of the pandemic, the nasal swab has become routine for flu-like symptoms. Clémence, a 30-year-old from Ile-de-France, bedridden with a fever, grabbed her self-tests from the chest of drawers Covid . Twice, they gave their verdict: negative. She concluded that she had influenza – which is likely in these epidemic times, but not certain.
Those who go to see their doctor often don’t dab the word “fluregarding their symptoms. In Paris, Manon, in her twenties, faced what looked very much like a flu, but doubt persisted: “I can’t say 100% that it was the flu, we simply eliminated the Covid with a test. On my stop, the doctor wrote “virosis” in the broad sense!The flu, by elimination but not by validation.
To get out of this artistic vagueness, a new tool has appeared on the market: Covid and flu antigen tests. One sample, two results. Jean-Paul Hamon, Honorary President of the Federation of Doctors of France , has been using them for a while. “When someone arrives at the office with flu-like symptoms, the first thing we do is take a sample from the nostrils. By the time we finish the exam, people get dressed, we know if they are positive for the flu or Covid. »
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Last week, out of 15 tests carried out, 12 flu and only one Covid. “This is real progressenthuses Doctor Hamon. “It allows you to prescribe less antibiotics [inutiles face à une infection virale] and justify it to the patient. It is an excellent therapeutic education tool. »
If the triptychtest, trace, isolatechanted the Covid years, it is clear that it is almost non-existent for the flu – which can however cause up to 15,000 deaths per winter. Due to the lack of systematic testing, the authorities are unable to communicate the number of daily cases. Tracing does not exist. As for isolation, it is too often neglected: in the event of flu symptoms, a negative Covid test is sometimes considered a pass to return to the office.
Minister’s wait-and-see attitude
«You have to pass on the message not to go to work when you have the flu, because you are contagious. Even if you feel fit enough to work, you risk transmitting the virus to someone else, who will in turn transmit it to others.“, pleads Michaël Rochoy, general practitioner in Outreau (Pas-de-Calais). In order to get this message across to his patients, he too has ordered Covid/flu antigen tests. However, these remain inaccessible:I feel like I’m going through the black market when I ask my pharmacist for them!», regrets Jean-Paul Hamon.
Same observation on the side of pharmacies. Pierre-Olivier Variot, president of the Union of pharmacists’ unions, deplores the wait-and-see attitude of Avenue de Ségur: “We have been waiting since last year for the “go” from the Ministry of Health to develop these tests and allow them to be fully reimbursed, as for the Covid. »
Read also – Flu: the government fears a “critical” situation in hospitals
Some have nevertheless taken the plunge, such as this pharmacy in Servance, in Haute-Saône, which has been offering Covid / flu antigen tests since this week. “A swab identical to that of the Covid test, therefore no more painful“, promises the sign. The same gesture, which has become commonplace, which may end up becoming a reflex during bad flu seasons. This disease which healthy people cared very little regarding until now. The pandemic has not finished upsetting our habits.
