“We’re all sick!” : flu, Covid, gastroenteritis, winter pathologies combine in patients

Les pathologies de l'hiver s'additionnent parfois et compliquent les prises en charge. Midi Libre – MIKAEL ANISSET

Flu, Covid, gastroenteritis and Mycoplasma pneumoniae bacteria… "winter pathologies are there and are sometimes intertwined in the same patient", notes Dr Pierre-Hubert Chaignon de Ronceray , at SOS Médecins Montpellier. Public Health France and the Sentinels surveillance network have placed France and Occitanie in "red".

"Circulation of Sars-CoV-2 still high", "strong increase in flu/flu-like syndrome indicators", "continuation of the bronchiolitis epidemic in the & #39;Hexagon", "clear increase in cases of gastroenteritis"… indicators from Public Health France and the Sentinels network place France in "red" on the front of winter epidemics. 

With a particularity in Occitanie, also affected by a chickenpox epidemic: the incidence rate is exploding, to 94 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, while the rest of France is in & quot;green".

On the SOS Médecins channel in Montpellier, Dr Pierre-Hubert Chaignon de Ronceray sees more and more patients affected by crossed pathologies. 

Dr. Chaignon du Ronceray, this Thursday, January 4, during a consultation. DR

The winter epidemics are here ?

Yes, we are in the middle of it, we are all sick and our antennas are never empty. The flu, which arrived timidly in December, is very present this time. We also have a lot of viral gastroenteritis, in children and adults.

We even have patients who arrive with complicated pathologies, Covid + and flu +.

How France fell into the red

Published this Wednesday, January 3, the weekly bulletin from Public Health France shows the offensive of acute respiratory infections: almost all of France is now in "red" epidemic on the flu front, "increasing sharply", and bronchiolitis, "still in progress". Only Brittany is spared.

For Covid, the indicators are falling in the hospital and in the city, but the circulation of the virus is "still high".

In Occitanie, the incidence rate of acute respiratory infections is 359/100,000 inhabitants, a little below the average in France. < /p>

For gastroenteritis: 135/100,000 (national average: 139/100,000).

Finally, the region has the particularity of being in an epidemic phase of chickenpox, with 94 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (in France: 20/100,000). 

They are holding up the shock?

Yes, we don't necessarily hospitalize…

Do you see patients with infection with the Mycoplasma pneumoniae bacteria ?

Yes, with one difficulty: we tend to put bronchitis patients directly on macrolides (Editor's note: class of antibiotics effective against M. pneumoniae), because many are in therapeutic failure . As a result, some pharmacies are out of stock of azythromycin.

With the return from vacation this weekend, do you fear new pressure on consultations ?

We usually work with two or three lines of care, we have organized ourselves to have four consultations, and we are considering setting up a fifth. But at the same time, doctors are also returning from vacation. 

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