Key Points

• In Week 19 (May 9–15, 2022), emergency department visits and hospitalizations following such visits increased among children (+12%, or +10,404 visits, and +7%, or +543 hospitalizations). For other age groups, visits and hospitalizations remained stable or declined.

• For the fourth consecutive week, Week 19 saw a decline in visits for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups (2,561 vs. 3,195 visits, or -20% vs. -27% in Week 18). The share of activity is slightly down (0.8% vs. 1% in Week 18) and the proportion of hospitalizations is stable (44% vs. 45% in Week 18). This decline is observed across all age groups except for those aged 2–14 (+7%, or +9 visits). COVID-19 no longer appears in the list of the 10 most common conditions in emergency departments across all age groups. At the regional level, emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 are down in all regions except Guadeloupe (+24%, or +9 visits). Since monitoring began on February 24, 2020, 790,840 emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded.

• Among other indicators, the following are observed:

  • Among children and adults: an increase in visits related to environmental conditions: hyperthermia and heatstroke (+139%, or +68 visits), insect bites (+49%, or +265 visits), isolated fever (+9%, or +411 visits), malaise (+12%, or +862 visits), as well as for asthma attacks (+24%), allergies (+15%), and trauma (+9%), with the exception of those aged 75 and older;

  • Among children only: an increase in visits for conjunctivitis (+68%), ENT conditions (+16%), chickenpox and abdominal pain (+12% among 2- to 14-year-olds), and bronchiolitis (+18% among children under 2).

Chickenpox remains at a higher level than in previous years among both adults and children.