If the pandemic, its confinements and curfews and its more or less well-worn masks already seem far away, Covid-19 is still there. Its circulation has even increased in recent weeks, according to Public Health France. We explain what you need to know on the subject.
What is the general assessment of Public Health France?
« An intensification of the circulation of Sars-CoV-2 seems to be beginning, the evolution of which will need to be monitored vigilantly over the coming weeks », Indicates Public Health France in its surveillance bulletin of September 25, concerning the 38e week of the year.
Over this period from September 16 to 22, “ all indicators for all ages were increasing in town and in hospital “. The positivity rate of samples increases, compared to the previous week, by 4.7 points in city laboratories (to 29%), by 2.7 points in hospital laboratories (to 15.3%) and above all by 36.3% in terms of wastewater monitoring.
Who are the people most affected?
If the increase in cases concerns all ages, it is “ worn by adults and more particularly those aged 65 and over », Specifies Public Health France. The figures confirm it:
- in community medicine, suspicions of Covid-19 represent 4.8% of procedures among those over 65, compared to 2.6% the previous week. Among 15-64 year olds, this figure now stands at 5.2% but is increasing a little more slowly (3.7% last week).
- hospitalizations after going to the emergency room for Covid-19 represent 2.9% of hospitalizations among those aged over 65 compared to 1.7% the previous week, and 0.5% among those aged 15-64.
The vaccination campaign for people over 65 will begin on October 15, recalls SPF.
From a geographical point of view, according to data from the Sentinelles system, it is in Brittany and the Grand Est that acute respiratory infections, of which Covid-19 is one, circulate the most, with rates of respective incidences of 400 and 302, compared to 198 on average.
What is the responsible variant?
Responsible for the epidemic wave of fall-winter 2023, the JN.1 variant, Omicron sublineage, is still at work.
In mainland France (excluding Corsica), JN.1 represented more than 99% of the interpretable sequences in the latest Flash survey, dating from the beginning of the month. Its KP.3.1.1 sublineage is the most frequent, representing 67% of the sequences during the same survey.
He is one of the “variants under evaluation” according to SPF. This means that it is characterized by genetic modifications that may affect its traits and shows early signals of a growth advantage, but its epidemiological impact remains unclear. According to the latest investigation, he could present “ increased infectivity and enhanced ability to evade neutralization by antibodies ».
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