The summer period has been tough for the Bordeaux University Hospital. “There has been a constant increase in Covid-19 hospitalizations during the summer producing very big difficulties in all of our services because obviously the July-August period is when everyone goes on vacation, where they there are closed beds in all health establishments, at the CHU as in other structures, ”Yann Bubien, Director General of Bordeaux University Hospital, recalled on Wednesday at the start of the school year conference. The Regional Health Agency launched the white plan on August 10 to mobilize additional resources. Deprogramming of so-called “non-urgent” operations must have taken place and they are starting to be reprogrammed this week.
At the beginning of September, the health situation improved a lot with “a very clear reduction in the incidence rate to 137 per 100,000 inhabitants and a declining positivity rate for the fifth consecutive week: 2.2% against 2.6 % the previous week, ”points out the general manager. Hospitalizations stabilized at 60 Covid patients, including 31 in intensive care. “There is always a delayed effect compared to the incidence rate, since we welcome patients in a rather serious condition, who arrive later and therefore leave later,” he observes.
Vaccination figures in Gironde welcomed
The people hospitalized were “either not vaccinated at all, or had only received a dose and were therefore absolutely not protected, adds Professor Denis Malvy, infectious disease specialist and member of the scientific council. Our teams withstood the shock this summer with great skill, commitment and empathy despite the horrors of human resources management ”.
In Gironde, the vaccination figures are welcomed by the infectious disease specialist: 80% of vaccinated among 18-59 year olds, 70% among 12-18 year olds and 90 to 95% of over 65s. If he emphasizes that this mobilization, especially of the youngest, made it possible to accelerate the end of the fourth wave, he also believes that alone, this progress in terms of vaccination does not sign the end of the epidemic. “The exit of the tunnel is not very far now, it is necessary to close ranks, to accompany the vaccination well, to keep the barrier measures, and to test, isolate, trace”, underlines the infectiologist.
He mentions that a booster for the entire population with a slightly different vaccine is being considered and that before the end of the year, the results of drug trials, in which the CHU is a partner, will be available. It would be an offer of treatment after a positive test, which could be carried out at home. “There is a whole momentum which means that 2022 will be the end of the tunnel and that it must be carried out as best as possible”.
From this Thursday, 4,000 students over 12 from 27 establishments in Bordeaux and Pessac will be vaccinated at the Bordeaux University Hospital.
