Key Points

• In week 50 (December 12–18, 2022), total activity at SOS Médecins clinics declined among children under 2 years of age (-11%, or 814 fewer visits) and remained stable in other age groups.

• Influenza/flu-like illness is once again the diagnosis showing the sharpest increase over the past week across all age groups: 22,862 cases in Week 50 vs. 14,827 in Week 49, representing a 54% increase across all ages, with increases ranging from 50% among children under 2 to 76% among those aged 75 and older. Influenza accounts for 22% of total SOS Médecins activity among children and 24% among adults, at levels already higher than the peaks reached during the 2021–2022 and 2019–2020 seasons. Conversely, after a month of rising cases due to suspected COVID-19, we are seeing the first week of decline across all age groups (-16%, or -604 cases across all ages).

• Among adults, the rise in other seasonal respiratory indicators continues, at levels higher than in previous years: acute bronchitis (+12%, or +447 cases, most pronounced among those aged 15–74), pneumonia (+10%, or +78 cases, most pronounced among those aged 75 and older), as well as for asthma attacks among those aged 75 and older (+52%, or +35 cases).

• Among children, specifically those under 2 years of age, there has been a decline for the third consecutive week in cases of bronchiolitis (-36%, or -251 cases), with levels returning to those observed in previous years. Against the backdrop of rising rates of both invasive and non-invasive Group A Streptococcus infections, there has been a stabilization in cases of scarlet fever.