The flu epidemic is intensifying throughout France and the Pyrénées-Orientales department is no exception. The peak of the epidemic is expected in the coming days. The unions are demanding the activation of the “hospital under pressure” plan.
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Visiting the pharmacy after a short night for this young Perpignan resident: “It happened suddenly yesterday at 1 p.m., coughing fits, a feeling of heat, runny nose, sore throat. I had a very bad night, so I came to the pharmacy to get checked.”
If for the young woman, the tests prove negative, in this pharmacy in Perpignan, symptomatic patients are legion. “We continue to do tests, it’s quite substantial. We are in the middle of an epidemic so we are carrying out Covid tests, flu tests, angina tests too, because there are also a lot of angina. Everything related to winter pathologies“, explains Julie Banet, pharmacy technician.
The flu is hitting harder this season than last year, but seems equivalent to that of 2022-2023.
“Currently the positivity rate, over the past week, of tests carried out in the emergency room for people coming for respiratory infections, is 20% for the flu. So two out of 10 people who present with pulmonary symptoms actually have the flu and around fifteen have to be hospitalized per day. declared Hugues Aumaitre, iinfectious disease specialist at Perpignan hospital.
The peak of the flu epidemic should be reached in one or two weeks in the Catalan Country. The Force Ouvrière union fears the saturation of the emergency department and is calling for the activation of the “hospital under pressure” plan.
“The emergency services table at the Perpignan hospital is made up of 44 practitioners, to date we only have 19. It is very complicated to be able to take care of all the patients who present“, argues François Sanchez, representative of Force Ouvrière at the Perpignan hospital.
The health authorities recommend the resumption of barrier gestures and vaccination, still possible until the end of the month.
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