France: why are people hospitalized with Covid-19 getting younger?
Members of health care staff treat a patient with Covid-19 in intensive care at Melun-Sénart hospital, in the Paris region, on March 8, 2021. REUTERS - Benoit Tessier
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The circulation of the coronavirus is still very intense in France, in particular in the Paris region where hospital resuscitation is on the verge of saturation: more than 1,000 patients in these services, or near the peak of the 2nd wave in November.
But for several weeks, it seems that hospitalized patients are getting younger and younger.
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The phenomenon is intriguing: how to explain the drop in the age
of hospitalized patients, especially in intensive care
?
Undoubtedly not a single reason, but a set of factors.
Among the hypotheses,
vaccination in the elderly would begin to produce its effects
, firstly, the contaminations slowing down in the over 75 years.
Consequence: fewer hospitalizations, as well as intensive care admissions.
This although these have always been limited given the risks of these techniques in very elderly patients.
Conversely, the rate of contamination has intensified among those under 75, which therefore leads to an increase in hospital admissions.
The British variant, more transmissible, would also make its mark and was distributed unevenly according to age groups.
While it is the cause of 66% of national positive cases, it is less widespread among the very old, over 80 years: 55% of positive cases.
However, according to English and Danish studies,
this variant would also be more dangerous
than the original strains: it would cause more severe forms requiring critical care.
Vaccination and British mutant could thus be the keys to the enigma of the hospitalization of young people.
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See also
: Covid-19: patients from hospitals in Ile-de-France transferred to western France
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