The winter flu epidemic intensified in cities in France and generated “very high hospital activity” and a “clear increase in deaths” in the second week of the year, Public Health France said on Wednesday.
The week from January 6 to 12 was marked by a “marked severity of the epidemic”, which reached a “high level of intensity in all age groups”, according to the weekly bulletin published by the agency sanitary.
The dynamics diverge according to age groups: influenza has progressed in primary care among those under 65, particularly children, but has slowed slightly among people aged 65 and over.
In hospitals, visits to emergency rooms and hospitalizations of children under five years old for flu or influenza-like illness have increased significantly. But those of people in all other age groups fell, while remaining at “a very high level of intensity”.
And the share of deaths with a mention of flu 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 in 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.
Three strains of the virus are circulating, A (H1N1), A (H3N2) and B/Victoria.
Overseas, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyana are in the epidemic phase, Mayotte in the pre-epidemic phase.
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 people targeted for vaccination, 41% among people aged 65 and over, and 19% among those aged under 65 years old at 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.
On the other hand, the majority of bronchiolitis indicators are decreasing: in France, five regions are in epidemic, as are, in Overseas, Martinique, Guyana and Mayotte, while 7 others are in post-epidemic.
The circulation of Covid-19 is stable at low levels, specifies SPF.
