The seasonal flu epidemic strengthened even more in France last week, while the bronchiolitis epidemic, which affects eleven regions, continued to decrease in intensity, indicated Public Health France (SpF) in its weekly bulletin this Wednesday, January 8. .
During the week of December 30 to January 5, the proportion of hospitalizations for flu and flu-like illnesses among all hospitalizations reached “an exceptionally high level of intensity compared to previous seasons,” according to this bulletin.
Flu indicators have also increased in community medicine, but less than the previous two weeks, which Public Health France relates to the Christmas holidays. But in the hospital the indicators increase “in all age groups except those from 5 to 14 years old.” The elderly are especially worried: those aged 65 and older accounted for 69% of hospitalizations last week after going to the emergency room for the flu or similar illnesses.
“In medical-social establishments, the number of cluster cases attributed to influenza continued to increase,” adds this public body dependent on the Ministry of Health. The number of flu-related deaths has also increased sharply.
The flu affects all regions of France. Abroad, the epidemic is raging in Martinique and Guadeloupe, while Mayotte and Guyana are in the “pre-epidemic” phase.
This epidemic of seasonal flu and other respiratory diseases is putting pressure on hospitals almost everywhere: at least twenty hospitals in France have implemented “white plans” in response to the influx of patients in their emergency departments, according to a probably underestimated count. . – AFP Tuesday. For Marie-Anne Rameix-Welti, director of the National Reference Center for Respiratory Infections at the Pasteur Institute, “we still do not know if we have reached the peak (of the epidemic) or not.”
The two viral strains currently circulating in France are related to those present in the 2024-25 flu vaccines; the latter should be effective, but no real data has been published yet.
Bronchiolitis in decline
The bronchiolitis epidemic continues in eleven regions of France, but its intensity is decreasing for the third consecutive week, both in cities and in hospitals. The Antilles, Mayotte and Guyana are also in the epidemic phase. Covid-19 indicators also remain stable at low levels, with a “decrease in the positivity rate in cities, in hospitals and in wastewater.”
“Vaccination remains the best way to protect against influenza and Covid-19, in particular against severe forms of these diseases,” reminds Public Health France. It is recommended “for all eligible people, to protect them and those around them”, in particular people aged 65 years or older or immunocompromised, infants over 6 months with comorbidities, pregnant women and residents of medical-social establishments. of all ages.
It is also for people in regular contact with people who are immunocompromised or vulnerable to severe forms of infection, including health professionals.
Furthermore, the health agency reminds us, the adoption of barrier gestures remains essential to protect oneself from all winter illnesses: washing hands, ventilating rooms and wearing a mask in case of symptoms (fever, sore throat or cough), in places crowded and in the presence of vulnerable people.
Source: BFM TV
