Key Points

In Week 23 (June 5–11, 2023), emergency room visits and subsequent hospitalizations remained stable across all age groups.

Due to weather conditions (high temperatures and thunderstorms) and the presence of allergens (pollen, grasses), an increase in asthma-related visits—in the form of a sudden surge known as thunderstorm asthma—was observed in both children and adults. Following a severe thunderstorm episode that began on Friday and ended on Sunday, an exceptional spike in the number of visits across all age groups was observed, with 5,599 visits (data updated as of June 12). Those aged 15–74 were the most affected (+40%, or +893 visits, for a total of 3,134 visits in S23). Regarding hospitalizations following an attack, they have remained at a high level since S22, with 1,025 hospitalizations in S23, while the proportion of hospitalizations following an attack is declining (18% in S23 vs. 22% in S22). The increase was driven mainly by the Île-de-France region, with 887 cases on Sunday alone, and to a lesser extent by Normandy, the Centre-Val-de-Loire, and Hauts-de-France. On Friday, a smaller surge was also observed in Brittany and Pays-de-la-Loire.

Over the past week, though at levels consistent with previous years, there was also an increase in visits for:

• hyperthermia and heatstroke in adults (+41%, or +40 visits);

• insect bites among children aged 2–14 and adults (+17%, or +141 visits);

• dehydration in children under 2 and adults aged 75 and older (respectively +36% and +5%, or +13 and +9 visits);

• malaise among 2- to 14-year-olds and 15- to 74-year-olds (respectively +13% and +9%, or +77 and +608 visits).

Also worth noting among children is an increase in visits for chickenpox (+18%, or +58 visits) and viral meningitis (+131%, or +17 visits), accompanied by a rise in hospitalizations among children, at levels higher than in previous years but close to those recorded in the pre-COVID-19 period.