After two winters marked by barrier gestures and social distancing measures that allowed the flu to recede into the background, is the viral disease preparing to make its big comeback in France? This is at least what Alain Fischer, former government “mister vaccine” and immunologist, fears in an interview with the Parisian this Wednesday.
“This year it will be difficult to maintain the same level of protection: masks, distancing, intensive hand washing… Given this relaxation, there is a serious risk of a flu epidemic,” he told our colleagues.
Weak protection of the population.
Several signals support the scenario proposed by the specialist. First, the absence of large waves of influenza during the last two winters, which prevented the French from developing antibodies against the disease, making them more vulnerable.
“With the last few flu seasons that have been small, I think immunity in the population is low,” Dr. Jennifer Nayak told CNN of the situation in the United States, similar to that in France.
Another element of concern is the situation in the southern hemisphere. In this part of the globe where the seasons are reversed compared to the northern hemisphere, the period of flu spread is from April to October. The trends observed there allow us to measure the virulence of the next flu seasons.
However, this year flu cases have been very important in Australia. As reported by Sydney Morning Herald, the number of monthly cases in 2022 has already exceeded those of 2017 and 2019, but is already marked by a significant rate of illnesses and fatal cases. The peak of contamination was reached even much earlier. On the side of the figures, the observation is unappealable. Australian laboratories have confirmed 147,000 cases of influenza this year, compared to 731 last year.
“What happened in Australia is an element of alert”, recognized Alain Fischer in the parisian.
“A very bad flu season”
In the United States, Anthony Fauci, medical adviser to the President of the United States, has already warned Americans. They must prepare for “a very bad flu season.” The immunologist even fears that this return of the flu will be accompanied by a new wave of Covid-19.
In the United States as in France, the health services have never had to deal with such a situation until now. “Covid-flu coexistence is not to rejoice. It is synonymous with a very high number of hospitalizations,” warned Alain Fischer.
Faced with this dreaded scenario that is gradually becoming more detailed, the governments of the United States and France are committed to vaccination. Both against the flu and against Covid-19.
Encourage vaccination
In its opinion on the approval of bivalent vaccines targeting both the original strain of Covid-19 and the Omicron variant, the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) recommended that the government link the start date of influenza vaccination, set for October 18, at the start of the vaccination campaign for bivalent vaccines, which will finally begin on October 3.
The objective of the HAS was to encourage the French to be vaccinated at the same time against the two viruses. Especially since flu vaccination coverage rates have been disappointing in recent years. For the 2021-2022 flu season, only 52.6% of French people were vaccinated, as reported by Santé Publique France.
Asked about Covid-19 by franceinfo On Tuesday, the Minister of Health, François Braun, made it a point to extend his comments to the flu and to all winter infections. “The mask in transport protects you from the flu, from the transmission of bronchiolitis to the child… It is not just a principle of protection from Covid,” he declared.
Source: BFM TV
