Summary

• In week 52 (December 21–27, 2020), total activity at SOS Médecins clinics increased among children under 2 years of age (+19%, or +951 visits) and those aged 75 and older (+14%, or +1,075 visits), remained stable among those aged 15–74, and decreased among those aged 2–14 (-11%, or -1,455 visits).

• In Week 52, following the increase observed last week, medical procedures for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups are once again down, with 2,087 procedures recorded (vs. 2,310 procedures in Week 51, a decrease of 10%). The share of total activity across all age groups stands at 3.5% (vs. 3.9% in Week 51). This decline mainly affects those aged 2–14 (-43%, or -136 cases) and those aged 15–74 (-8%, or -138 cases). Among those aged 75 and older, there was a moderate increase (+28%, or +47 cases), as well as among children under 2 years of age (+23%, or +5 cases). Suspected COVID-19 is the fourth most common diagnosis among those aged 15–74. Regionally, medical procedures for suspected COVID-19 are stable or declining in nearly all regions except in the Grand-Est region (+10%, or +22 procedures). Decreases range from -5% in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (i.e., -5 procedures) to -42% in Brittany (i.e., -50 procedures). Since the start of surveillance, 160,315 procedures for suspected COVID-19 have been performed.

• Among seasonal conditions, notable increases include ENT disorders (+24% among children under 2 years old, or +635 procedures, and +13% among those 15 years and older, or +636 procedures) and respiratory conditions: bronchiolitis among children under 2 years old (+32%, or +50 procedures), bronchitis (+21%, or +326 procedures), pneumonia (+43%, or +133 procedures), and asthma (+17%, or +93 procedures) across all age groups, though levels remain low compared to previous years.

• Among the most common conditions, a significant increase in cases of chickenpox was observed among children (+86%, or +278 cases). Among the elderly, various increases were observed, notably for urinary tract infections (+48%, or +116 procedures), deterioration in general health (+10%, or +140 procedures), and trauma (+17%, or +92 procedures).