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According to Public Health France, the flu epidemic is spreading in France from week to week. Five French regions are particularly affected and classified at the epidemic stage.
After the Covid-19, it is the flu that is back on the front of the stage. According to Public Health France, which publishes its weekly bulletin on Wednesday March 9, the five regions most affected in France by the flu are Brittany, Centre-Val de Loire, Normandy, New Aquitaine and the Pays de la Loire region. .
Virus circulation on the rise
For Public Health France, the trend was also “on the rise in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Brittany, Centre-Val de Loire, Grand Est, Hauts-de-France, Normandy, New-Aquitaine, Pays de la Loire and Provence-Alpes-Côte d ‘Azure“, i.e. almost all the regions of France.
The virus indicators are classified as stable in the rest of the French regions. Overseas, a “continuation of the decrease in influenza indicators was observed in Guyana” indicates SPF. While “in the other regions, influenza activity was at baseline”.
More hospitalizations
Public Health France also notes that “the proportion of hospitalizations for influenza or influenza-like illness among all hospitalizations was also on the rise in all age groups, except in children under 5, in whom this indicator nevertheless remains at the highest level”.
Moreover, the proportion of children admitted to intensive care remains at a much higher level than normal, with “32% of all cases in 2021-22 while it was less than 15% in previous seasons” SPF rating.
In the hospital, the passages for influenza are in “clear increase” with an increase in hospitalizations of 36%.
Consult a GP online
Are flu self-tests reliable?
A study conducted by American researchers shows that the self-tests to detect influenza, carried out by the patients themselves at home, were as reliable as those carried out in a hospital environment. The study’s lead author, who is a professor of public health at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, provided 600 patients with test kits containing flu self-tests. The volunteers carried out the tests themselves and sent them back to the laboratory for analysis.
The researchers determined that the sensitivity and specificity of the self-test were comparable to those of rapid influenza diagnostic tests used in clinical settings. They thus plead for the generalization of this practice, in order to reduce public health costs.