Hospital and Population-Based Evidence for COVID-19 Early Circulation in the East of France

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Franck Breysse¹  Camille Dezfouli-Desfer¹  Joséphine Odoul²  Jonathan Peterschmitt³  Candy Guiguet-Auclair⁴  Laurent Gerbaud⁴  Lemlih Ouchchane⁴  Vincent Breton⁵ 

[1] Emergency Department of Diaconat Fonderie Hospital, 68100 Mulhouse, France;Public Health Department, University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France;Sundgau Medical Center, 68210 Bernwiller, France;University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand, Public Health Department, Clermont Auvergne University, National Center for Scientific Research, SIGMA Clermont, Pascal Institute, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France;Université Clermont Auvergne, National Center for Scientific Research, National Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics, Laboratoire de Physique de Clermont, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France;

关键词: COVID-19;    SARS-Cov-2;    epidemic surveillance;    emerging infectious disease;    epidemic threshold;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph17197175

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Background: Understanding SARS-CoV-2 dynamics and transmission is a serious issue. Its propagation needs to be modeled and controlled. The Alsace region in the East of France has been among the first French COVID-19 clusters in 2020. Methods: We confront evidence from three independent and retrospective sources: a population-based survey through internet, an analysis of the medical records from hospital emergency care services, and a review of medical biology laboratory data. We also check the role played in virus propagation by a large religious meeting that gathered over 2000 participants from all over France mid-February in Mulhouse. Results: Our results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 was circulating several weeks before the first officially recognized case in Alsace on 26 February 2020 and the sanitary alert on 3 March 2020. The religious gathering seems to have played a role for secondary dissemination of the epidemic in France, but not in creating the local outbreak. Conclusions: Our results illustrate how the integration of data coming from multiple sources could help trigger an early alarm in the context of an emerging disease. Good information data systems, able to produce earlier alerts, could have avoided a general lockdown in France.

【 授权许可】

Unknown