According to what Public Health France indicated this Wednesday, week 2 of 2025, going from January 6 to 12, was marked by a “marked severity” of the winter flu epidemic in the country, which reached a “ high level of intensity in all age groups”, according to the weekly bulletin published by the health agency.
The epidemic is intensifying in the city and still high activity is observed at the hospital for France, the entirety of which is in the epidemic phase, Brittany included. And on the overseas side, Guadeloupe and Martinique are in the epidemic phase, like Guyana, which has shifted there. Mayotte is in the pre-epidemic phase. Currently, three strains of the virus are circulating: A (H1N1), A (H3N2) and B/Victoria.
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2 Children increasingly affected
The dynamics diverge according to age groups: the flu has progressed in community medicine among those under 65 years old. A “particularly marked” increase in activity among those under 15. But it slowed slightly among people aged 65 and over. Overall, the consultation rate for all ages combined for influenza-like illness was 436 per 100,000 inhabitants in week 2, compared to 353 in week 1.
At the hospitalvisits to emergency rooms and hospitalizations of children under 5 years old for flu or influenza-like illness have increased significantly. But if those of people in all other age groups have fallen, they remain at “a very high level of intensity”.
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3 Hospital: “very high” activity
The epidemic thus still leads to “very high hospital activity”, in Brittany as in the rest of the country. In the details presented by Public Health France, those aged 65 and over represented 67% of national hospitalizations after going to the emergency room for flu or influenza-like illness in week 2.
Furthermore, 22% of visits to the emergency room for flu or influenza-like illness resulted in hospitalization, all ages combined. This proportion was, this time, highest among those aged 65 and over (60%). It represented 11% among 15-64 year olds, 9% among those under 5 and 5% among 5-14 year olds. Finally, the number of reports of grouped cases attributed to influenza was also sharply increasing in medical and social establishments.
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4 More than 600 deaths in one week
The share of deaths with a mention of influenza among all electronically certified deaths continued to increase (7.3% compared to 5.9% the previous week), “indicating a marked severity of the epidemic”. This represents 611 deaths for the week ending January 12.
This share of deaths due to influenza even climbs to 12.4% in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, 9.4% in the Grand Est, 9.2% in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and 7.9% in Hauts-de-France and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, said the health agency.
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5 Fewer people vaccinated this year
Faced with the “intense” circulation of the flu and its impact on hospitals, the Ministry of Health called on Tuesday for “great vigilance” to “protect the most vulnerable”, ensuring that there will be enough doses to vaccinate until the end of January.
As of November 30, influenza vaccination coverage was 35.2% among all targeted people, 41% among people aged 65 and over, and 19% among those aged under 65 to risk of severe flu, according to SPF figures. These vaccination coverages are lower than those estimated for the 2023-2024 season on the same date, specifies the health agency. As a reminder, the vaccination campaign, which began in mid-October 2024, will end on January 31.
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