Barrier gestures, ventilation, vaccination… How to protect yourself from the flu, which is increasing sharply in France

Bronchiolitis, flu, Covid-19… Like every end of the year, acute respiratory infections are on the rise in France. While 12 regions of France and several overseas territories are still in the epidemic phase for bronchiolitis, and Covid-19 is circulating at relatively low levels, it is the flu which is increasing sharply.

The rest after this ad

The rest after this ad

The map shared by Public Health France is completely red in France. Clearly, over the period from December 16 to 22, all regions were in an epidemic situation. This particularly concerns children under 15 years old. We have also observed a significant increase in visits to emergency rooms and hospitalizations for those over 65 who are particularly vulnerable.

The importance of barrier gestures

This increase in cases can be explained by the fact that during this winter period, the French are often indoors, especially with family, which promotes the transmission of the influenza virus. How then can we limit the risks of transmission? “At this stage, it is the barrier gestures that count,” says Philippe Besset, president of the Federation of Pharmacists of France, to Europe 1.

The rest after this ad

The rest after this ad

The latter shares his advice at the end of the year. “When you are sick, you obviously have to wear a mask to avoid contaminating others, especially when there are elderly people. You have to ventilate the rooms as often as possible, wash your hands… These obvious barrier gestures that we had during Covid and that we had forgotten a little.”

The other simple action is to get vaccinated. The president of the Federation of Pharmacists of France regrets that only 10 million French people have done so this year. He invites populations at risk to anticipate to be vaccinated next year.