The return of seasonal flu in Switzerland especially threatens the French-speaking cantons, according to figures from the Federal Office of Public Health. The cases recorded in the OFSP's Sentinella notification system doubled in one week, rising to 5.03 cases per 100,000 inhabitants as of December 15.
At the same time, the wave of Covid-19 “seems to have reached its peak”, wrote the OFSP on Monday. The decline that began several weeks ago continues, even if cases of Covid-19, which amount to 7.3 per 100,000 inhabitants, remain for the moment more numerous than those of seasonal flu. However, they have halved since the beginning of October. Good news for already overcrowded hospitals.
>> Read also: Vaud hospitals are at their maximum overcrowding alert level
Vaud in the lead
According to the latest figures published by the OFSPthe canton of Vaud would be the most affected with an average of 23 cases declared per 100,000 inhabitants. Just behind, follow Valais, then Jura, Geneva and Neuchâtel where the virus seems to be gradually taking hold.
But nothing surprising, believes Laurence Senn, head of Infection Prevention and Control at CHUV, Thursday in La Matinale. “It’s very similar to what we saw last year,” she assures, also explaining that “family celebrations are always an environment conducive to the transmission of respiratory viruses.”
Among other respiratory viruses to watch out for: the one causing bronchiolitis. The disease, which mainly affects children, has continued to spread for several weeks and is therefore added to the wave of flu, with a risk: that healthcare systems will reach saturation if the two epidemics intensify.
>> See also the 7:30 p.m. report:
Sophie Iselin/juma with ats
