Persistent symptoms after a Covid-19: current state of knowledge

The lungs are the main organ for SARS-CoV-2 infection and the obvious prognostic factor in the acute phase;however, the virus can spread to many different organs, including the heart, blood vessels, gastrointestinal tract, liver, central nervous system and kidneys. Since the beginning of the pandemic, persistent symptoms after Covid-19 have been reported, as it was the case in the SARS-CoV-1 epidemic, including in people who initially suffered from a mild form. The frequency of these symptoms after Covid-19 is difficult to assess;however, the rate appears to be higher in patients after hospitalization, due to the severity of the acute infection. Approximately 10% of patients appear to have persistent symptoms 3 months after Covid-19, including fatigue, dyspnea, chest pain, inadaptation to exercise, neurocognitive disorders and cardiovascular abnormalities. These prolonged symptoms after Covid-19 seem to persist beyond 3 months, and even 9 months in some cases, as in SARS. Their pathophysiology is not yet clear: understanding them will probably lead to better personalized management. In the meantime, the medical profession must be able to identify, evaluate and manage these prolonged symptoms with the available means (including re-education and rehabilitation), in the absence of specific treatment.

Wearing masks from the age of 6 to counter the spread of COVID-19 in French schools

The start of the school year in September 2020 in France, during the COVID-19 pandemic, was accompanied by debates on the value of wearing masks in primary school. This work discusses the interest of wearing masks from the age of 6, in the light of the scientific knowledge updated until early November 2020 and of French specificities. Literature shows that children are contaminated and account for at least 11% of COVID-19 cases. This rate is increasing: it was lower in studies carried out during periods of confinement, school holidays or low circulation of the virus. Children are contaminants for all age groups. Nowadays, there is no scientific data supporting a risk associated with children wearing a mask. The risk-benefit balance is therefore clearly in favour of the generalised use of masks for children. The compulsory wearing of masks by children, whatever their age (from the age of 6 in schools), can only be more effective than no measures at all.