Key Points

COVID-19

• In Week 18 of 2022, a downward trend in SARS-CoV-2 circulation

• Decrease in incidence across all age groups, except for those under 10 years of age.− Continued decline in the rate of new hospitalizations (all departments) and admissions to critical care.

• Decrease in the number of emergency room visits.

• Since week 07-2022, the data now only covers the SOS Médecins associations in Strasbourg and Troyes. For these two associations, a decrease in the number of consultations for COVID-19 is observed.

• Departmental incidence rates: Decrease in incidence rates across all departments. The highest rate is observed in the Ardennes (524 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), and the lowest is observed in Aube (389 cases per 100,000 inhabitants).

• Variants: In the Grand Est region, the screening rate is 44%, and 96% of screened tests indicate a suspected Omicron variant (for tests where the mutation is sought and interpretable).

• Prevention and vaccination (COVID vaccine data): As of May 9, 2022, full vaccination coverage for the region was 77.5%. 88% of those aged 65–74 and 79.8% of those aged 75 and older had received a booster dose.

Influenza and influenza-like illnesses

• The region entered the post-epidemic phase in week 18 of 2022.

• SOS Médecins: Since week 07, the data now only covers the SOS Médecins associations in Strasbourg and Troyes. For these two associations, the number of consultations for flu-like illness, all ages (Figure 5), is slightly down compared to last week (155 consultations in W18–2022 versus 165 in W17–2022), representing 4.4% of total activity.

• Oscour®: The number of emergency department visits for influenza-like illness, all ages (Figure 4), decreased in week S18-2022 compared to the previous week (72 versus 136 in S17-2022) and represents less than 0.5% of activity.

• Virology data (Figure 2): According to data from the virology laboratories at the Nancy and Strasbourg University Hospitals, influenza virus circulation continued to decline in week 18-2022 in the region.

• Intensive care units in the region: Since the start of surveillance (10/04/2021), five cases of severe influenza have been reported.

• Acute respiratory infections in long-term care facilities: Since the start of surveillance (October 4, 2021), 33 episodes of ARI (excluding COVID-19) have been reported.

Acute gastroenteritis

• SOS Médecins: Since week 07-22, data now only covers the SOS Médecins associations in Strasbourg and Troyes. For these two associations, the number of consultations for acute gastroenteritis (AGI) across all age groups was 304 in week 18. This figure is stable compared to the previous week (310 consultations). The share of activity is 8.7% and is decreasing compared to last week.

• Oscour®: The number of emergency department visits for GEA, all ages (Figure 6), continued to decline in week 18-2022 (314 visits compared to 343 in week 17-2022), representing 1.3% of the department’s total activity. Children under 5 years of age still account for half of all visits, with 162 visits for GEA (6.8% of the activity share for this age group).

• The proportion of hospitalizations for GEA among all hospitalizations following an emergency department visit for children under 5 is 12%.