Bordeaux: 25 positive cases among patients and caregivers at Saint André hospital – France 3 Régions

With the autumn weather, we are witnessing a resumption of the epidemic in France. It must be said that with the high rate of vaccination, the abandonment of the mask in certain situations, and undoubtedly also weariness, many French people have relaxed their attention and have forgotten the “barrier gestures”.

But when the virus comes to the hospital and infects caregivers but also patients treated here for other reasons, it becomes shocking. Health services call on everyone not to relax.

16 caregivers and 9 patients in St André

The Bordeaux University Hospital, of which the establishment is part, indicates that, since the end of October (the weekend of 23-24), a cluster has been identified within the hospital in the internal medicine department. 16 caregivers from the internal medicine unit and nine patients are in quarantine, most of them at home. Only the most fragile were isolated in hospital rooms. This November 5, screening tests are scheduled again.

For the moment, no serious form of the disease is to be deplored among them. What is currently questioning is that these positive cases had all previously received their two doses of vaccine.

A crisis unit was created on Tuesday. The hospital had to organize a screening of this unit (for infectious diseases) but also of neighboring services. The people who used the service were informed by email on the conduct to be followed. The positive patients are followed, for the most part at home, and the most fragile are in confined rooms. In this context, faced with these absences and a reorganization of the service, 16 beds had to be closed.

Details from Fabrice Bonnet, head of the internal medicine and infectious diseases department at Bordeaux University Hospital and Nicolas Tachon, director of Saint-André hospital in this report by Julie Chapman and Marc Lasbarrères:

The Gironde under tension

For Bénédicte Motte, director of the Gironde departmental delegation of ARS Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the health agency is in permanent contact with the Bordeaux hospital on this subject. “Since Monday, we take stock several times a day. And we deploy the strategy of any cluster: test, alert protect“. It is a question of identifying all the cases thanks to screenings (25 cases known to date). In addition, any person entering the hospital is subjected to a test”since April-May 2020 “. Then we informed via “the management of the CHU, occupational health, to explain what was happening and invite screening. We ourselves alerted the CPAM, based on cases known to have a global view of the situation“. Then it comes to”protect therefore avoid future contamination: reminder of barrier gestures, we review habits, use of changing rooms, places of catering …” And then “big subject: vaccination and the 3rd dose. Caregivers have been eligible since the beginning of October “.

She also explains that this situation “brings us to bed closures that we are sorely lacking in a context where our Girondin hospitals are in great demand with winter pathologies that are beginning, the Covid that continues and resumes (84 hospitalizations in Gironde plus 28 in intensive care) “.

She adds that other beds are closed “because we are on school holidays, because we have vacant positions …“A lack of personnel which corresponds, since September, to the nursing staff who have left the profession.”In general, in September, we reconstitute the teams and there, we were not able to do it in Gironde … But it is a national phenomenon“. A lack which is beginning to be felt and which in any case limits the establishments in their capacity of reception.”We have nearly 300 closed hospital beds in Gironde today “.

Favor the attending physician

In this context of resumption of the epidemic, the director also wants to send a message so as not to overload emergency services and hospitals which have to deal with other seasonal pathologies but also emergencies. She recommends, in the event of symptoms of Covid-19, to contact your doctor or to do the 15 rather than going directly to the emergency room, and it is they who will tell you what to do.

In Nérac: a caregiver and six patients

It was also last week that the Nérac hospital detected several cases of contamination within it. According to Joris Jonon, departmental delegate of ARS in Lot-et-Garonne, this concerns four caregivers and eight patients from the medicine department. All these positive cases are the subject of “reinforced medical monitoring but are asymptomatic“,” iThey were all vaccinated “.

Room containment measures for these patients have been taken to prevent the spread. Tests every seven days are carried out as per protocol and checks are carried out on entry.

For now, he also explains that it has been decided “a temporary suspension of visits“.

A resumption of the epidemic in New Aquitaine

Since mid-October, we have witnessed a rise in contamination in France but also in New Aquitaine (+ 14% in the number of cases of covid-19).

This week 43 (from 25 to 31 October 2021) in comparison with S42 (from 18 to 24 October 2021), Santé Publique France indicates that “the acceleration of viral circulation continues and new hospitalizations and admissions to critical care services continue to increase“.

This week, the incidence rate rose to 58.1 / 100,000 inhabitants (vs. 50.9 in W42) and the test positivity rate increased slightly from 2 to 2.6%. A rate which is higher in Lot-et-Garonne (82.6) and in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques (91).

There are also more new hospitalizations for Covid-19: 145, against 113 in W42, as well as 13 new critical care admissions (+8 in W42).

There are also more deaths: this week we deplore 13 in the hospital, against 8 the previous week.

Cluster monitoring

Despite these clusters at the hospital, public health observes a decrease in these “grouped cases” this week 42: 27 against 37 the previous week. Almost half of the current clusters have been “declared in schools and nurseries“. On the other hand, EHPAD” represent 16% of active clusters in week 43 (against 11% in week 42) and professional circles 11% (4% in week 42).

Despite the vaccine

However, New Aquitaine remains a “good student” in terms of vaccination coverage. 91.3% of Neo-Aquitaine over 12 years old are vaccinated or 4,803,273 people.

The health services encourage the French to be extra vigilant and not to feel completely protected by the vaccine even if this remains the first recommendation (and to make a 3rd dose for eligible people).

They recall these actions to protect you from contamination even if we have known them for almost two years:

– to get vaccinated

– respect barrier gestures

– get tested and isolate yourself in case of symptoms or risky contact

To consult the last points on the epidemic in New Aquitaine from Public Health France