Key Points

In week 50 (December 13–19, 2021), overall activity at SOS Médecins clinics declined slightly among children and remained stable among adults.

Procedures for suspected COVID-19 remained stable after six consecutive weeks of increases; the current level is higher than that of 2020 during the same period. In total, 3,653 procedures (vs. 3,560 in Week 49) were recorded (a 3% increase vs. 14% in Week 49 and 7% in Week 48). By age group, procedures were down among children under 2 years old, stable among those aged 2–14 (+2%) and 15–74 (+3%), and slightly up among those aged 75 and older (+15%, or +14 procedures). At the regional level, these procedures increased in six regions: Centre-Val de Loire (+66%, or 33 procedures), Corsica (+50%, or 30 procedures), PACA (+33%, or 153 procedures), Pays de la Loire (+21%, or 34 procedures), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (+12%, or 51 procedures), and Île-de-France (+10%, or 51 procedures). They are stable or declining in the other regions. Since monitoring began on March 3, 2020, 271,018 medical procedures for suspected COVID-19 have been performed.

Seasonal indicators are declining among children and stable among adults, except for procedures for influenza/flu-like syndrome (+19%, or +340 procedures). The levels reached are stable or even lower than in previous years, except for those related to gastroenteritis and conjunctivitis among children and ENT conditions among adults.

Among other indicators, note the increase in procedures for isolated fever (+9%, or +101 procedures), vomiting (+9%, or +87 visits) across all age groups, viral syndrome (+38%, or +41 visits) in children under 2 years of age, and urinary tract infections (+8%, or +120 visits), low back pain (+6%, or +129 visits), and acute abdominal pain (+9%, or +103 visits) in adults.