Flu season is not over. In its latest weekly bulletin published this Wednesday, Public Health France points to a “rebound in the epidemic”: 11 of the 13 regions of metropolitan France are now classified in the epidemic phase, including Brittany, which is nevertheless classified in the “post -epidemic”. ” phase. previous week.
As of now, only the Normandy and Hauts-de-France regions are not in the epidemic phase. By contrast, the regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côtes d’Azur are the most affected.
A 43% increase in hospitalizations
In detail, the incidence rate of consultations for flu symptoms increased by 38% between the week of January 23 to 29 and that of January 30 to February 5. Emergency visits also increased by +40%, as did the number of hospitalizations, by +43%.
Proof of the epidemic recovery currently underway, these same numbers were less important during the shared epidemic point last week. The incidence rate of consultations as the number of hospitalizations increased “only” 13%.
On the hospital side, the epidemic bulletin indicates “a strong increase in the number of visits to the emergency room for influenza or flu syndrome and the number of hospitalizations after the passage; this trend was observed in all age groups and particularly marked in 15-44 years (+93%)”.
Is the type B strain to blame?
This rebound comes at a time when the start of the year was marked by a relative calm in pollutionafter a 2022 closure marked by a triple epidemic: Covid-19, influenza and bronchiolitis in young children.
The epidemic was relaunched in particular by the expansion of a new strain, called type B, although the first, type A, remains present.
The type B virus “can significantly reinfect people who have already had type A influenza,” infectious disease specialist Benjamín Davido told AFP last week.
Since the start of surveillance of the epidemic last October, 712 people with influenza have been admitted to intensive care in France, indicates Public Health France. 83 deaths have been reported: 40 in people over 65 years of age, 40 in the 15-64 age group, and three in children under 15 years of age.
“This significant severity compared to previous seasons was observed in all age groups, but it was particularly marked between 45 and 64 years of age,” underlines Public Health France.
Source: BFM TV
