Do vaccines affect Covid cases? Be careful with this “study”, quoted by Didier Raoult

Posted by netizens, a post highlighted on September 30 by the European Journal of Epidemiology gained notoriety after Didier Raoult shared it with his subscribers. A source that the microbiologist in Marseille considers very reliable – he, according to him, “The world’s most famous journal in epidemiology”. It shows that the results of this work stand out No correlation between vaccine policy and the number of cases.

While some share this article in denouncing the futility of government policies focused on vaccination, voices have been raised to highlight bias and weaknesses in this post. The critics are not limited to the French border.

In Canada, Quebec Conservative Party leader Eric Duhemy also highlighted this study. The local press, without delay, sought the advice of a doctor and pharmacist to assess its reliability. This is a very short article and is not subject to peer review.And Notes Dr.. Matthew Nadeau Valley. “It’s usually accepted after reading a journal editor. This is an observational study, so it’s not experimental. This type of study is great for developing research hypotheses, but not great for drawing conclusions. The study is very biased and I’m not sure we can conclude anything.”

What are these biases? whatever across the Atlantic Or in France, the observers considered this publication and noted first that to analyze the evolution of new infections in relation to the proportion of the population vaccinated, the authors selected data over only 7 days. The period is considered to be particularly short which makes any interpretation more precarious. It should also be noted that the countries studied are going through very different epidemiological dynamics, some going through significant periods of remission when others face pollution outbreaks.

Among other major limitations, it should be noted that differences in testing policies were not taken into account. Problematic, especially because a country that is very proactive in this area that will test its population on a very large scale will have a better chance of identifying positive patients, compared to another country where only people who show symptoms are invited to get tested.

Another element “forgotten” by the authors is the differences observed from country to country in the level of health measures in place. Mask-wearing, scales in stores, bans on public gatherings… Across the world, public health policies vary widely, with an undeniable impact on pollution. The Swedish example, with the authorities’ reluctance to promote the mask, showed significant differences compared to other Scandinavian countries, where the epidemic has spread much less.

While searching for information about the authors of this article, observers noted that they were only two, but in particular he appeared along with a Harvard teacher … a high school student! Co-signing the post, Akhil Kumar has already been introduced as a student in Brampton, a Canadian city in Ontario located in the suburbs of Toronto.

On these social networks, Professor Raoult invokes about the European Journal of Epidemiology a journal that will be “The world’s most popular epidemiologist”. Disputed assertion, in particular by Doctor of BiologySee the “H Index” for this source. This is a classification that takes into account published articles that later become the subject of repetition and citations in other scholarly journals. Logically, if a journal highlights studies that are considered important by the scientific community, they will be regularly taken as examples and reused, resulting in a high score for the H.

Regarding the European Journal of Epidemiology, we note that it appears only at number 20 among journals in epidemiology. What makes Didier Raoult’s words relative? The Marseille-based professor also refers to him as the “editor” of this review, an assertion that is again misleading as he has not been so since January 2021. Editorial journalist Florian Gauthier contacted the reviewer in order to obtain confirmation.

Editorial board leave [le comité éditorial, NDLR] Didier Raoult was notified by email in the second half of December 2020”, are we learning. but the last “Apparently he didn’t acknowledge this letter to the editor. Nine months later, he still doesn’t seem to realize he’s off the board.” When the journalist asked about the reasons for Didier Raoult’s withdrawal from this editorial board, the review official presented a “renew” of the team, without further details.

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