The winter flu epidemic continued to progress at the start of the year in France, particularly in hospitals, with an exceptionally high proportion of hospitalizations due to this disease compared to previous years, indicated Wednesday January 8 Public health France. During the week ending January 5, the flu epidemic increased in France. If it was less than the previous two weeks in city practices, “probably linked to the vacation period”, it was stronger in the hospital, specifies the weekly bulletin published by the health agency.
“The share of hospitalizations for influenza or influenza-like illness among hospitalizations” has thus established itself “at an exceptionally high level of intensity compared to previous seasons”, and the number of cases is increasing in medical-social establishments. The number of deaths linked to the flu has also increased sharply.
A “very tense” situation in hospitals
This epidemic of seasonal flu and other respiratory conditions is putting hospitals under pressure almost everywhere: at least twenty hospitals in France have triggered “white plans” in the face of the influx of patients in their emergency departments. , according to a probably underestimated count Tuesday from AFP.
On franceinfo On Wednesday, Gilles Pialoux, head of the infectious and tropical diseases department at Tenon hospital in Paris, warned and said he was “very concerned” about “a very tense situation”. According to him, the slope is still upwards: “We are always wary of these episodes of seasonal flu which start early because sometimes, they are in two waves. We have bad memories, especially in 2017-2018”, recalls the doctor. That winter, the flu caused excess mortality estimated at 13,000 deaths. The scientist also deplores the low rate of vaccination against influenza: “If we look at people at risk over 65 years old, last year we were at 54% vaccination while the objective is more like 75 -80%. He also points out the “totally insufficient” vaccination coverage of caregivers. “It’s still amazing. In public hospitals, we must be around 18% vaccinated,” he denounces.
The epidemic peak potentially not yet reached
The two viral strains currently circulating in France are related to those present in the 2024-25 flu vaccines, the latter should be effective – but real-life data have yet to be published. “We are in a flu epidemic above last year’s peak: there is significant circulation of the virus, and groups of patients infected until now rather younger than usual, older children and adults up to 50 years old,” virologist Bruno Lina told AFP on Tuesday. “During the holiday period, there were probably intense exchanges of viruses, so that we ended up with a lot of sick people,” according to him.
First region affected this year, “almost one to two weeks before the rest” of the country, Ile-de-France should “switch to the post-epidemic phase quite quickly, while the other regions will further gain momentum”, said still esteemed Professor Lina. Overseas, Guadeloupe and Martinique were in epidemic, Guyana and Mayotte in pre-epidemic, in this first week of 2025. For Marie-Anne Rameix-Welti, head of the National Reference Center for Respiratory Infections at the Pasteur Institute, “we do not yet know whether we have reached the peak (of the epidemic) or not”. On the other hand, the bronchiolitis epidemic decreased for the third consecutive week, with the circulation of Covid-19 remaining generally stable at low levels, according to SPF.