Key Points

In week 33 (August 14–20, 2023), emergency department visits were up slightly (+6%) among children (+4,035 visits) and adults aged 15–74 (+14,532 visits). Hospitalizations following emergency department visits were slightly higher among 2- to 14-year-olds (+6%, or +250 hospitalizations) and stable in other age groups.

Visits due to suspected COVID-19 continued to rise, particularly among children under 2 years of age (+54%, or 107 visits) and those aged 15–74 (+56%, or 426 visits), and to a lesser extent among those aged 75 and older (+13%, or 76 visits). Among children aged 2–14, numbers remained very low (56 visits in S33 vs. 23 in S32). Across all age groups, 2,197 visits were recorded in S33 (1,555 in S32), representing a 41% increase (59% in S32) and accounting for 0.7% of emergency department activity (0.5% in S32). The proportion of hospitalizations following a visit decreased to 30% (37% in S32).

All regions were affected with the exception of Corsica and Martinique (down) and Réunion (stable). The increases observed ranged from +7% in Nouvelle-Aquitaine to +92% in Guadeloupe. The majority (60%) of visits were concentrated in four regions: Île-de-France (412 visits in S33, +47% compared to S32), PACA (353 in S33, +59%), Nouvelle-Aquitaine (268 visits in S33, +7%), and Occitanie (265 in S33, +38%).

Most other indicators were on the rise, particularly those related to weather conditions: heatstroke (196 visits in Q33—including 120 among those aged 15–74—vs. 103 in Q32, a 90% increase), isolated fever (+18%, or +441 visits) and insect bites across all ages (+36% across all ages, or +467 visits), dehydration in adults (+17%, or +53 visits), and general malaise in 2- to 14-year-olds (+19%, or +69 visits).

Finally, we note an increase in gastrointestinal symptoms among children (gastroenteritis and vomiting, +14%), ENT infections across all ages (+11%, or +948 visits), as well as visits for suicide attempts among those under 15 (+35%, or +31 visits).