ABSTRACT
COVID-19 is a multi-organ disease due to an infection with the SARS-CoV2 virus. It has become a pandemic in early 2020. The disease appears less devastating in children and adolescents. However, stress, quarantine and eventually mourning have major impacts on development. It is difficult to describe what this pandemic implies for a child psychiatrist, other than by giving a first-hand account. I propose to go through the main ethical questions that have arisen; to describe how my hospital team has reorganized itself to meet the new demands and questions, in particular by opening a unit dedicated to people with autism and challenging behaviors affected by COVID-19; and to address, in a context of national discussion, how the discipline has sought to understand the conditions of a certain well-being during quarantine. Finally, I will try to conclude with more speculative reflections on re-opening.
Subject(s)
Adolescent Psychiatry , Attitude of Health Personnel , Autistic Disorder/therapy , Betacoronavirus , Child Psychiatry , Coronavirus Infections , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral , Psychiatry , Adolescent , Adolescent Behavior , Adolescent Psychiatry/ethics , Autistic Disorder/complications , Autistic Disorder/psychology , COVID-19 , Child , Child Behavior , Child Psychiatry/ethics , Communicable Disease Control/methods , Coronavirus Infections/complications , Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Coronavirus Infections/prevention & control , Coronavirus Infections/psychology , Coronavirus Infections/transmission , Cross Infection/complications , Cross Infection/psychology , Cross Infection/therapy , Environmental Exposure , France , Health Services Accessibility , Hospital Restructuring , Hospital Units/organization & administration , Humans , Infection Control/methods , Mental Health Services/ethics , Mental Health Services/organization & administration , Olfaction Disorders/etiology , Olfaction Disorders/psychology , Pandemics/prevention & control , Patient Acceptance of Health Care , Patient Care Team , Patient Isolation/psychology , Play Therapy , Pneumonia, Viral/complications , Pneumonia, Viral/prevention & control , Pneumonia, Viral/psychology , Pneumonia, Viral/transmission , Professional Practice/ethics , Protective Devices , Risk Factors , SARS-CoV-2 , Stress, Psychological/etiologySubject(s)
COVID-19 , Cross Infection , Mental Fatigue , Universal Precautions/methods , Attitude to Health , COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/prevention & control , COVID-19/psychology , COVID-19 Testing , Cross Infection/prevention & control , Cross Infection/psychology , Humans , Infection Control/methods , Infection Control/organization & administration , Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional/prevention & control , Mental Fatigue/prevention & control , Mental Fatigue/psychology , SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purificationABSTRACT
National Health Systems are facing a very serious health emergency related to COVID-19. In this phase of emergency, it is essential to ensure the care of all affected patients but also to ensure the economic stability of the National Health System. This stability is undermined by the potential exponential increase in claims caused by healthcare-associated infections related to COVID-19. That is why it will be essential to use all means necessary to prevent this economic crisis, which could overlap with the health crisis.