Highlights Comparison of incidence and mortality rates of four common coronaviruses circulating in France with those of SARS-COV-2 in OECD countries. As of 2 March 2020, 90 307 patients had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 worldwide, with 3086 deaths (mortality rate 3.4%). As of 2 March 2020, among OECD countries, 7476 patients had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, with 96 deaths (mortality rate 1.3%) As of 2 March 2020, in France, 191 people had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, with three deaths (mortality rate 1.6%). In OECD countries. the mortality rate for SARS-CoV-2 (1.3%) is not significantly different from that for common coronaviruses identified at the study hospital in France (0.8%; P=0.11). The problem of SARS-CoV-2 is probably overestimated, as 2.6 million people die of respiratory infections each year compared with less than 4000 deaths for SARS-CoV-2 at the time of writing. ABSTRACT SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus from China, is spreading around the world, causing a huge reaction despite its current low incidence outside China and the Far East. Four common coronaviruses are in current circulation and cause millions of cases worldwide. This article compares the incidence and mortality rates of these four common coronaviruses with those of SARS-COV-2 in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. It is concluded that the problem of SARS-CoV-2 is probably being overestimated, as 2.6 million people die of respiratory infections each year compared with less than 4000 deaths for SARS-CoV-2 at the time of writing.
For several years, alarmist articles both in mass media and in the scientific community have reported an increase in antibiotic resistance, even citing an inability to treat patients infected with multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDR) responsible for high mortality worldwide. In this review we summarize and discuss the key points associated with the reality of (i) the existence of pandrug-resistant bacteria, (ii) the increase of resistance worldwide, (iii) the link between resistance and death, and (iv) the need to develop new antibiotics. Data on antibiotic resistance in Europe for the main bacteria associated with invasive infections apparently demonstrate that apart from Klebsiella pneumoniae, which is resistant to carbapenems in three countries (Romania, Italy and Greece), the level of resistance to three or more classes of antibiotics (defined as MDR phenotype) has remained low and stable over the last 5 years and that therapeutic options exist both for reference antibiotics and for old antibiotics. The clinical outcome of patients infected by MDR bacteria remains controversial and death rates attributable to MDR bacteria versus non-MDR bacteria are still debated. The arsenal of antibiotics currently available (including 'old antibiotics') suffices for facing the waves of emergence of new bacterial resistance and should be considered as a World Heritage. This heritage should be managed in a non-profit model with international regulatory approval.
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