As the cold gradually takes hold in France, certain pathologies come to mind. The Ministry of Health therefore saw fit to launch a prevention campaign on barrier gestures. “To protect yourself against the flu, Covid-19, bronchiolitis and other winter viruses, hand washing is THE MOST effective hygiene measure”he wrote in a publication on the social network X (formerly Twitter), Wednesday November 13.
The message quickly caused Internet users, as well as health professionals, to react. “The ministry uses public money to misinform the population about the modes of transmission of a potentially fatal infectious biological agent, and still conveys the misinformation according to which Sars-Cov-2, which circulates wave after wave throughout year, is a 'winter virus'”was outraged by doctor Christian Lehmann in a column published on November 15 by Liberation.
The presentation of Covid-19 as an illness of the cold season is not the point which has generated the most debate. Critics have further targeted the way in which government communication approaches the fight against the circulation of viruses. If he believes that hand washing is a “basic hygiene measure against winter viruses”the doctor Jérôme Barrière however specifies on X that this gesture is important “especially against viruses that cause gastroenteritis.. It is also said of these that they are “handled”: infected people “deposit” them on objects, such as door handles for example. All you need to do is touch these contaminated surfaces, then touch your face (mouth or nose) for the virus to pass from there. one host to another.
To protect yourself from “gastroenteritis is really just hand washing”Fabienne Kochert, then president of the French Association of Ambulatory Pediatrics, reminded franceinfo in January 2021, in the midst of a pandemic. On the other hand, Covid-19, influenza and bronchiolitis are respiratory viruses and are transmitted mainly by air. After a few months of questions, in 2020, the fact that Sars-Cov-2 passes primarily through the air, through droplets, was established, then constantly reinforced.
The message from the Ministry of Health is therefore judged “totally obsolete today” by Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health in Geneva (Switzerland). “We could hear it at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, when we still did not know how the virus was contaminated”he explained on TF1. An American study published in the journal Nature in 2022 showed that the risk of contamination was 1 in 100 by inhalation of aerosols containing Sars-CoV-2 particles, compared to 1 in 100,000 for contact with soiled surfaces. To limit the spread of Covid-19 and the flu, “The most effective measure is therefore to provide sufficient ventilation” the parts, adds Antoine Flahault.
When it comes to the spread of the virus that causes bronchiolitis, hand washing can help reduce the spread. A study published in the scientific journal The Lancetin 2015, showed an 8-point reduction in episodes of respiratory infections in the group of participants encouraged to wash their hands regularly compared to a control group. The percentage may seem low but the authors consider it high enough to play a role during an epidemic, notes Le Figaro.
Questioned by franceinfo, the General Directorate of Health (DGS) maintains that “Hand washing is one of the essential preventive actions against all viruses”. However, this organization, which depends on the Ministry of Health, responds without saying so to the various criticisms expressed. The DGS also cites, among the “simple preventive actions” against the “winter virus and Covid-19”ventilation and wearing a mask.
If she presents hand washing as a gesture “complementary” ventilation and wearing a mask, the DGS insists on its importance and relies on a report (PDF) from the World Health Organization, published in 2021. “Performing hand hygiene at the right time prevents the transmission of infectious diseasesshe writes, quoting the document. Hand hygiene reduces deaths attributable to diarrheal and respiratory diseases by 21% and 30% respectively in children under 5 years old.
Above all, concludes the DGS, frequent hand washing presents “the advantage of being a simple measure to be applied in daily life by everyone, with an individual and collective objective of preventing the transmission of infectious diseases”. In conclusion, hand washing is necessary but is not sufficient against winter viruses and Covid-19. In a previous publication on X, on October 30, the Ministry of Health recalled the importance of ventilation and wearing a mask.
