Paris (AFP)

Younger patients, without comorbidities, who develop severe forms of Covid-19 and occupy intensive care beds: the third wave of the epidemic worries government and doctors.

"Young people in their thirties, 40 and a few years old, and who do not necessarily have comorbidities but who develop serious or intermediate forms" of the disease are flocking to the hospital, testifies to AFP Patrick Pelloux.

"We are not at all in the same framework as last year", continues the president of the Association of emergency physicians of France (Amuf).

A finding shared by Jean Castex, Thursday afternoon, noting during a trip to Seine-et-Marne that "more than 1,400 patients are hospitalized in intensive care in Île-de-France: among them - I am the I still noticed in Melun - younger profiles and without comorbidities ".

"The virus spares no one: I solemnly call on everyone to respect health restrictions," he insisted.

"La gorge nouée", the director of the ARS Île-de-France, Aurélien Rousseau, abounded in a tweet: "Extraordinary teams of force take care of increasingly young patients, very young, affected by particularly severe forms ".

These new patients are "from all origins (African, Asian, Caucasian)", from "all social backgrounds", underlines Dr. Pelloux, who says to himself that "something happened in the epidemic. thing has changed, but we don't know what ".

Relatively spared so far, young people do not have the right reflexes and are taken care of a little too late, according to him: "They look on the internet to find answers, while neglecting their symptoms, and delay their calls for help. emergency services and their attending physician ".

- For a "mass vaccination" -

Result: "When we arrive, it is more serious than if we had given treatment earlier, with oxygen or even corticosteroids", annoys Patrick Pelloux.

An observation shared by Lidye *, 33, nurse at the private hospital Foch de Suresnes (Hauts-de-Seine): "Those under 50 say to themselves that they are tough, invincible, and are slow to call to be caught. This disease affects everyone, whether they are athletic or not, whether they are eating healthily or not ".

"Once the lungs are affected, it's more complicated", breathes the nurse, but this time, with the experience gained in a year, "we are not on a protocol where we sedate the person straight away. and we intubate it. There, we keep them awake and we give them oxygen. "

For Mathias Wargon, "one has the impression" that patients admitted to intensive care "are younger. But what do the statistics say?" Asks this emergency physician from Seine-Saint-Denis, arguing that if "we have a little less old "is that" the old are vaccinated ".

According to the latest data from Public Health France, the third wave, fueled by the English variant, spares no age group, including among the active.

Thus, on Friday 120 people aged 30 to 39 were counted in intensive care on the national territory (103 on February 27), 339 among 40-49 years (against 228), 801 among 50-59 years (against 542).

"Since September, when we look at the incidence by age group, we observe that it has increased the most in 20-29 year olds, and this increase is spreading to other age groups", notes Dr Wargon .

According to Stéphane Gaudry, professor of intensive medicine and resuscitation at the Avicenne hospital, in Bobigny, the average age of patients admitted has decreased, from "about 65 years six weeks ago to rather 56-57 years now" .

"Calls to the Paris Samu have increased by 30% in just five days", explains Patrick Pelloux, who pleads for "mass vaccination. We must abandon the concept of category and vaccinate the entire population!"

© 2021 AFP