A new spoilsport at Christmas? For the third consecutive week, the indicators show a slight upward trend: +0.4 points for SOS Médecins medical procedures, +0.2 points for visits to the emergency room and +0.3 points for hospitalizations after visits to the EMERGENCIES. Do these data indicate a possible resumption of the Covid-19 epidemic? As reported South Westin its edition of Friday December 1, 2023, the number of visits to the emergency room for suspected Covid-19 was 3,457, or 1%. Note that the number of hospitalizations after suspected Covid-19 was 1,456, or 2.2% of all hospitalizations. Low figures compared to the last waves of the epidemic, but which raise questions. “When we look at recent years, this period from December to January corresponds to a resumption of contamination”testified Benjamin Davido, infectious disease specialist at the Raymond-Poincaré hospital in Garches, in the columns of The DispatchSaturday December 2, 2023.
How to protect yourself?
In any case, with a mixing of populations during the end-of-year holidays, the tendency is towards caution. And to avoid contamination, there is no miracle solution. “Barrier gestures have an advantage: they are universal. We have associated them with Covid but they protect against other infectious agents”continued Benjamin Davido. But the specialist highlights the mycoplasma. An epidemic which, according to the infectious disease specialist, is nothing extraordinary since it generally appears “every 3-5 years”. “We know that there are tensions over the supply of medicines. The real question is whether we will have sufficient treatments in France depending on the evolution of this epidemic”, he continued. Concerning the Covid-19 pandemic, the vaccination campaign started on October 3, 2023. And more than three million people over 65 received one dose, i.e. vaccination coverage for the fall 2023 campaign of 21.9%. Note that vaccination coverage among health professionals continues. And to start the year 2024 in the best conditions, specialists are unanimous: have common sense and responsibility.