In an epidemiological update published Thursday, Santé Publique France writes that after more than two years “of low incidence during the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in invasive meningococcal infections was observed during the 2022/2023 season.”
In the graphs published by the national public health agency, we can see that the infection curve for 2022/2023 rises above those of previous years, with a peak of infections in particular at the end of 2022.
The Ministry of Health recalls on its website that “meningococci are bacteria that can cause very serious diseases such as meningitis or septicemia, which can be fatal or leave significant sequelae”.
The number of hospitalizations registered at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 exceeded 40 cases, while the last highest peak dates from the 2017/2018 season, and is around 25 cases. Another spike was recorded at the end of February/beginning of March 2023, with more than 20 hospitalizations.
Lowered immunity?
Santé Publique France proposes two hypotheses to explain this increase. On the one hand, the greater risk of contagion could “derive from reduced immunity in the population, having been less exposed to meningococci between 2020 and 2022”, due to the barrier gestures and social distancing measures implemented during Covid-19. .
On the other hand, the strong epidemics of viral infections in recent months may have posed “a risk of invasive bacterial infection” by weakening the organisms.
The two symptoms that should alert are “a high fever that is poorly tolerated and/or one or more rapidly appearing red or purplish (purple) spots,” specifies the Ministry of Health, which writes that in the face of “the slightest doubt, urgent contact should be made in the 15th or your attending physician”.
The treatment is different depending on the type of meningitis that develops, but you have to “start it very quickly,” stresses the health insurance.
“The importance of vaccination”
“The rebound observed in the 2022-2023 season is a reminder of the importance of vaccinating children to protect them against infections related to serogroups B and C,” Public Health France also underlines.
Several departments, where the identified cases were concentrated, have already called on their population in recent months to get vaccinated against meningitis to avoid epidemics, such as Alsace. Another campaign is currently underway in Lyon, where several cases have been detected.
Other diseases have experienced particularly strong increases this season. In mid-April, Santé Publique France thus wrote in an epidemiological point that “the number of consultations and visits to the emergency room for non-invasive SGA infections (scarlet fever) remains at levels higher than those observed before the COVID epidemic.
Source: BFM TV
