Where have peritonitis, sepsis and other myocardial infarctions gone? This is the question that many doctors are currently asking themselves, in Orleans as elsewhere, given the low number of emergencies (excluding Covid-19) that they have to deal with. “Where are the sick?”, “Are people no longer sick?” Wonders, incredulous, Dr. Thierry Prazuck, head of the infectious diseases department at the CHR in Orleans.
In fact, to accommodate the patients with Covid-19 who keep coming, hospitals have reorganized their services. “We have deprogrammed operations, consultations related to chronic pathologies, and we are making prescriptions that we send home, which explains, in part, the fact that we see fewer people and that there have a lot of free beds “, concedes the health professional. “But people don’t come to the emergency room anymore!”, he wonders.
Dr. Prazuck addresses another problem he calls “the idle doctor syndrome”. Because all the doctors, depending on their skills, their experience, cannot be assigned in Covid areas. “So they come to the hospital but get bored, they decline”, testifies the head of service.
The fear of going to the hospital, of disturbing
Is this drop in attendance not simply explained by the fact that the population, on the one hand, is afraid of going to the hospital and, on the other hand, is afraid of “disturbing” the staff hospitable? “Maybe but when you have a myocardial infarction, you come to the hospital without thinking! “answers the doctor.
“With confinement, there is less movement, fewer accidents. People do less sport too, so less trauma. But what I do not explain, that is why we have far fewer acute pathologies like heart attacks, strokes. There is no reason why these life-threatening emergencies should go down. “
Dr Thierry Prazuck (Head of department at CHRO)
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Concern dominates: “Aren’t people taking too much upon themselves, even if it means letting a situation deteriorate by ignoring serious symptoms? “Dr. Prazuck dreads in any case a big “backlash”, “just after the coronavirus crisis”.
An activity halved
A fear shared by Dr Anne Malet, head of the adult emergency department at CHRO.
We have seen a drastic drop in emergency room usage for the past 15 days, down around 50%. There are probably chronic pathologies which are likely to decompensate. Yes, we are worried about these patients. How long will it last ? Sooner or later, we will have them in the emergency room.
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Dr. Prazuck slips in passing: “We realize that in normal times, there is maybe overconsumption, especially in emergencies “. And Dr. Malet adds: “Surely. Despite everything, in general, on average one third of the patients we receive in the emergency room are hospitalized. So there is a real need. ”
Coronavirus: in the midst of a debate on chloroquine, interview with the head of the infectious diseases department at the Orléans CHR
Blandine Lamorisse
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