After two years of intense circulation, Covid had taken up less space in 2022. But France then experienced a strong resurgence of other respiratory diseases, which had become the third cause of death behind cancer and cardiovascular diseases. “Tumors and diseases of the circulatory system (ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases) remain the two leading causes of death, but diseases of the respiratory system (…) become the third”shows a reference study, published this Tuesday by the Public Health France agency, Inserm and the statistics department of the Ministry of Health (Drees).
Every year, these scientists take stock of the main causes of mortality in France with a slight delay: in this case it is the year 2022. More than 673,000 deaths have been recorded, “a higher number than in 2020 and 2021, two years nevertheless very strongly marked by the Covid-19 epidemic”observed to AFP Manon Cadillac (Drees). The mortality rate has increased in particular because of“an increase in respiratory diseases linked to winter epidemics, Covid-19, still present despite its decline, an increase in external causes (accidents, falls, etc.)”summarized Anne Fouillet of Public Health France to AFP.
The leading cause of death in France, however, remains cancer. Responsible for more than a quarter of deaths in 2022, tumors killed slightly more men than women and, in more than half of the cases, affected seniors aged 65 to 84. Cancer mortality, however, continued its downward trend, even if it stabilized among women. Tumors of the lung, colorectal, breast, pancreas and prostate remained the most fatal.
Increase in accidental deaths
In second place: cardiovascular diseases, the cause of more than a fifth of deaths. Mortality due to these pathologies has further increased, particularly among women and those over 85, breaking for the second year with pre-pandemic levels. Several countries also reported an increase, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Norway, according to the researchers.
Sharply increasing, deaths caused by respiratory diseases excluding Covid, in particular pneumonia, chronic diseases and influenza, represented 6.7% of the total. They returned to a level close to that of 2019. For Anne Fouillet, it is “mainly under the effect of winter epidemics of influenza (a late one in 2021-2022 and an early one in 2022-2023) and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus, the main cause of bronchiolitis, Editor’s note), and, to a lesser extent, summer heatwaves”.
“Covid was able to take some precedence in 2020-2021 over other causes of mortality, through a phenomenon of competition; in 2022, it is rather respiratory diseases which have taken over”she explained. In 2022, Covid fell to fifth place among causes of death, with victims older than in 2021, while remaining responsible for notable mortality (6.1% of all deaths).
Already apparent in 2021, notable increases in deaths from endocrine, digestive and genitourinary diseases have been confirmed. And mortality due to pathologies of the nervous system including Alzheimer’s and, to a lesser extent, other dementias, has risen to levels close to pre-pandemic. A phenomenon also observed in the United Kingdom.
Another notable fact: mortality due to accidents, in particular falls and domestic accidents, increased in 2022, particularly among the elderly. Deaths due to transport accidents have also increased, without returning to pre-Covid levels. For the first time since 2020, mortality due to external causes (accidents, suicides, etc.) was thus “significantly” higher than its pre-pandemic trend.
Overall, in the different causes of death, “the effects of sex and age combine somewhat. Excess male mortality is very high at all ages, and women who die are generally older than men”Elise Coudin (Inserm) told AFP.
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