First cases of Omicron in France are exhibiting mild symptoms, November 2021–January 2022
Anna Maisa, Guillaume Spaccaferri, Pierre‐Edouard Fournier, Justine Schaeffer, J. Deniau, P. Rolland, B. Coignard, Amaia Andrieu, Oriane Broustal, Sérgio Gabriel Baena Chêne, Souhaila Chent, Erica Fougère, Gwladys Nadia Gbaguidi, mohammed HAMIDOUCHE, André Lamy, Quiterie Mano, Brice Mastrovito, Alizé Mercier, Gabriela Modenesi, Ghislain Picard, J. Prudhomme, F. Rapilly, Adeline Riondel, M Rivière, Bruno Ramirez, Aurélien Zhu-Soubise, Manuel Zurbaran, A. Amzert, Laurent Andréoletti, Antonin Bal, R. Beaurepere, Sylvie Behillil, Laurent Bélec, C. Bernard, Laurence Bocket, L. Bouri, Thomas Bourlet, Céline Bressollette‐Bodin, Ségolène Brichler, Claire Brugerolles, S. Cado, Vincent Cálvez, N. Capron, Sandrine Castelain, John Fredy Castro-Álvarez, Marie‐Laure Chaix, C. Charpentier, D. Che, Christian de Chillou, Philippe Colson, P. Coudene, A. Crinquette, Alexis de Rougemont, Héloïse Delagrèverie, Catherine Delamare, T. Denecker-Berardino, D. Descamps, Melissa L. Desroches, Grégory Destras, Gaël Dos Santos, Alexandra Ducancelle, S. Ducreux, Thomas Duret, Vincent Enouf, Samira Fafi‐Kremer, C. Felici, Slim Fourati, Pierre‐Edouard Fournier, Catherine Gaudy, Hugo Germain, V. Giordanengo, Olivier Gorgé, S. Haïm-Boukobza, Cécile Henquell, A. Holstein, Linda Houhamdi, Jacques Izopet, Véronique Jacomo, A Jacques, Marie‐Christine Jaffar‐Bandjee, Miriam Cabrera Jiménez, Laurence Josset, Stéphan Kemeny, Marie‐Edith Lafon, A. Le Bars, Gildas Le Corguillé, Quentin Lepiller, Anthony Levasseur, Nicolas Lévêque, Bruno Lina, Claire Madelaine, Christophe Malabat, Stéphanie Marque‐Juillet, T. Martin-Dunavit, Patrick Mavingui, Audrey Mérens, Imane Messak, Laurence Morand‐Joubert, Xavier Naudot, P. Neybecker
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the first Omicron cases detected in France in order to assess case characteristics and provide supporting information on the possible impact of this variant on the healthcare system. METHODS: A standardized questionnaire was used to collect information from confirmed and probable Omicron cases. RESULTS: Median age of 468 investigated cases was 35 years, 376 were symptomatic (89%); 64% were vaccinated with two doses and 7% had received three doses. Loss of smell and taste were reported by 8.3% and 9% of cases, respectively. Seven cases were hospitalized, three of those were unvaccinated (including two with reported precondition). No admissions to intensive care and no deaths were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm a mild clinical presentation among the first Omicron cases detected in France and highlight the importance for the national COVID-19 surveillance system to quickly detect and adapt to the emergence of a new variant.