The event will have marked a whole generation: mostly traumatic, a good memory for some who were able to take advantage of it to rest, rethink their lives, and a communion in a common effort, tinged with support for caregivers. The first confinement, declared just five years ago in order to limit the damage of the COVID-19 in France, while the hospitals were overwhelmed in the East and in Ile-de-France, will remain whatever happens in the memories.
It is also with him that the propagation of numerous information and conspiracy theories began, fueled by networks seeking to harm institutions or wishing to take advantage of ambient fear and lack of information, and even by certain researchers, doctors as well as politicians.
Daily anti-Cavid vaccines …
THE fake news The most persistent remain those relating to anti-Cavid vaccines, accused of ineffectiveness, for being responsible for a list of unlimited undesirable effects, or even disrupt human DNA. After more than 13 billion doses administered worldwide According to the World Health Organization (WHO) – more than 150 million in France – and four years of decline, international pharmacovigilance systems have established a clear safety profile of the various anti -Cavid vaccines. These are even the most studied drugs in history.
As indicated The French Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (SFPT), the serious side effects are very rare. The most concern are allergy (anaphylaxis)there Peripheral facial paralysisTHE transient menstrual disordersor Myocarditis and pericarditeor inflammation of the heart muscle, but whose frequency and severity remain, according to many studies, weaker than allergies, paralysis, menstrual disorders and post-infection myocarditis. It is necessary to recall a rule which applies to vaccines: since vaccination exists (in 1885), the injections have never caused any other side effects than those which the disease generates, with some very rare exceptions. Above all, the complications driven by vaccines are always less frequent, serious and durable than those that the disease causes.
“There were a dozen deaths in France linked to Astrazeneca vaccines, it’s about ten too many, but for millions of saved lives, recalls Mathieu Molimard, professor of medicine, pharmacologist, pulmonologist, head of service at the Bordeaux-university hospital center and SFPT member. These dead were identified very quickly and the vaccines Astrazeneca People less sensitive to these reactions.
Other undesirable effects are still under exploration – they are neither confirmed nor excluded – such as the Viral reactivation like the zonathe elevation of the blood pressureor the trigger of tinnitus. Finally, the risks of deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism, myocardial infarction, miscarriage or stroke have all been refuted thanks to specific studies. In the same way, no signal concerning a cancer death or aggravation over the vaccines. All pharmacovigilance data from the centers for the control and prevention of American diseases, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the ANSM in France converge: the benefit/risk ratio remains largely in favor of vaccination, even in the youngest populations.
Ineffective injections
The fiercest opponents of vaccines continue to criticize their effectiveness, saying that infections that occurred in vaccinated people are proof of this failure. However, initial clinical trials have always indicated that the main objective of vaccines was to prevent serious forms, hospitalizations and deaths, and not from preventing any infection. With the first strains, vaccines had additional benefit by partially protecting from the infection. But the emergence of more transmitted variants as omicron and its sub-chiefs has reduced this advantage. Protection against serious forms, it remained solid.
The theories that vaccine mRNA could modify our DNA or be dangerous for health have fortunately lost ground, although they were relayed by media figures, including Didier Raoult, ex-director of Ihu in Marseille. The latter said that DNA residual in vaccines would be dangerous for health And would cause cancers by integrating into our DNA. The presence of DNA in COVVI-19 vaccines to mRNA in quantity lower than the authorized limits is known to the authorities and nothing indicates that this poses a health problem. In addition, other vaccines containing DNA fragments, such as that against chickenpox, have been used for over 25 years. Furthermore, no evidence has never shown that mRNA would manage to enter the cell nucleus where our DNA is located.
Vaccines against the COVVI-19 have saved a considerable number of lives. According to a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseasesglobal vaccination would have made it possible to avoid almost 20 million deaths. In Europe, the vaccine has saved 1.6 million people Between 2020 and 2023, including 125,000 in France.
Miracle treatments censored by “Big Pharma”
Hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, zinc, vitamin C and D … These treatments have been presented as inexpensive and effective solutions deliberately dismissed by pharmaceutical laboratories, in search of profits. Yet hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), powered on the front of the stage from the start of the pandemic by Pr. Raoult, does not work, as Recovery tests In the United Kingdom, WHO Solidarity as well as Cochrane meta analysis (A study that compiles the results of many other works), highlighted it. The first study by IHU of Marseille supposed to demonstrate its profit has also been retracted for multiple abuses and errors. “In addition, this study had been revised and corrected in a single day, which is highly abnormal in science and that the IHU of Marseille had tried to hide,” adds Lonni Besançon, researcher in data visualization at Linköping University (Sweden) involved in the fight against medical disinformation.
The ivermectin, an antiparasitic used in human and veterinary medicine, has had a similar journey and even experiences a revival in the United States in recent months, since it is now attributed to its profits against cancer. The enthusiasm for this medication has been fueled by some observational studies and small trials, often marred by important methodological biases. “A meta-analysis had shown an effectiveness of the ivermectin, except that it had integrated fraudulent studies. Once these works have been removedthe new conclusion showed its lack of benefit, “said Lonni Besançon. Rigorous clinical trials have confirmed its ineffectiveness and A Cochrane Meta Analysis Concluded that there is no reliable evidence showing that the ivermectin reduces mortality, mechanical ventilation need, hospital admissions or clinical recovery time. As with hydroxychloroquine, these studies were carried out by public and university institutions, without a conflict of interest with the pharmaceutical industry.
As to zincto Vitamins C and Dif they play an important role in the proper functioning of the immune system, no study has established a therapeutic effect in patients with COVID-19, with the exception of a modest effect in people with a deficiency. “Millions of people have taken these treatments. Now, no one or almost no one believes in it. But there has been a deployment of colossal means when there was no solid pharmacological basis. The scientific community conducted hundreds of studies on hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, zinc and vitamins C and D and despite all that, no evidence of efficiency has been high. Molimard. “There was a waste of scientific efforts and a potential loss of luck for patients, because there was a waste of money that has failed in other research on more interesting treatments, but also because it led to false confidence of certain citizens who thought that the magic potion of Pr. Raoult was a miracle remedy that allowed them to have nothing to fear Besançon.
Masks, at best useless, at worst dangerous
The initial communication of the French government on masks, deemed unnecessary, has been problematic. “It was the original sin, which tainted the government’s credibility for the whole suite of the pandemic,” said Pr. Molimard. If the authorities defended themselves by explaining, later, that their communication was influenced by the global shortage of protective equipment, the damage was important, in particular by promoting distrust of the authorities and other health recommendations.
Today, the report of the French population towards masks has hardly evolved. Few people wear it when they are sick, while this practice, common in many Asian countries, is beneficial against many diseases. Research has shown that the use of the mask significantly reduces The risk of transmission of COVVI-19. The theories that the prolonged port could cause hypoxia (a reduction in oxygen in the blood), hypercapnia (an excess of CO2 in the blood) or bacterial infections have all been refuted. Blood oxygenation measures in caregivers with masks for long periods, for example, showed No significant reduction in the oxygen level. Research on people suffering chronic respiratory failure confirmed that even for these fragile populations, wearing the surgical mask does not alter significantly Gas exchanges.
The false information spread during the pandemic at least had the merit of arouse a welcome reaction of the global medical association. “She added, in 2024, An article (8) in Helsinki’s declaration. It states that in public health emergency situation, if new knowledge and interventions may be necessary, it remains essential to respect the ethical principles, underlines Hervé Maisonneuve doctor and eminent specialist in scientific integrity. Without being explicit, it is the behavior of sometimes conspiratorial colleagues that are targeted “.
The pandemic will also have recalled that the scientific method remains an excellent tool in the face of conspiracy theories, and that intellectual rigor and critical mind remain the best defenses against disinformation. This implies always verifying the source and quality of the information, distinguishing the facts established from opinions or hypotheses, recognize our own cognitive biases and accept complexity and uncertainty. Five years after the start of this crisis, these lessons must be hoped for.
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