Key Points

In Week 01 (January 2–8, 2023), the week marking the start of the school year, total activity among SOS Médecins associations declined for children under 2 years old (-26%, or 1,748 fewer visits) and for those aged 75 and older (-13%, or 1,043 fewer visits), while remaining stable in other age groups.

Across all age groups, we observe:

• a marked decline in SOS visits for all respiratory indicators and, notably, for the second consecutive week, for influenza/flu-like illness (-28%, or 7,444 fewer visits), including this week among those aged 75 and older; however, levels remain very high among adults for all indicators.

• a sharp increase in medical visits for digestive indicators: vomiting (up 80% and 36% among children and adults, respectively) and acute gastroenteritis (up 73% and 47%, respectively), consistent with the usual seasonal trend and at levels that remain lower than or on par with (vomiting among children) previous years.

In this back-to-school week, a sharp increase in medical visits for abdominal pain, trauma (up 142%), and scarlet fever (up 66%) is observed among 2- to 14-year-olds, also seen among children under 2 (24 visits vs. 10 in Week 52). Bronchiolitis continues to decline among children under 2, remaining at a level seen in previous years and still sustained. Among adults, aside from respiratory indicators that are generally declining, the other most common conditions are on the rise, particularly trauma.

Finally, regarding mental health indicators, although levels remain low compared to previous years, the increase in cases continues for anxiety across all age groups (+140% among children, +36% among adults) and for depressive disorder among adults (+38%).