“Having a more or less significant seasonal flu epidemic in winter is almost expected, analyzes Professor Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health in Geneva, what varies is the duration and intensity .” This season, for example, flu viruses, for which the vaccination campaign is extended until the end of February, are circulating more strongly than last year. Consequences: hospitals see a greater number of patients than normal and the number of deaths linked to flu increases. Already in mid-January, around a hundred French hospital centers had activated their “white plan”, that is to say their emergency system making it possible to cope with an overload due to a large influx of patients.
Each year, the flu epidemic causes around 10,000 deaths (the vast majority among people aged over 65). And the year should not escape the rule: in the second week of January, Inserm recorded 611 deaths linked to flu, or 7.3% of the total deaths reported electronically to the institute. In its weekly bulletin, published this Wednesday, January 22, Santé Publique France notes that mortality linked to influenza has never reached this level.
Note, however, that Inserm figures only concern death certificates reported electronically – which tends to underestimate mortality outside the healthcare system. At the end of 2023, for example, only 43% of deaths were reported in this way. However, the level of mortality highlighted is particularly high this year.
A preventable epidemic?
These recurring flu epidemics are costly in several ways. Already on a human level, they cause an excess of avoidable mortality while they weaken our health system in terms of health. Finally, economically, “they have a significant impact, in terms of health expenditure but also in terms of work costs”, points out Professor Flahault.
The epidemiologist readily draws a parallel with the cholera epidemic which regularly raged in Paris in the 19th century: “We realized that this disease was transmitted through wastewater. By implementing water sanitation, we “We have managed to eradicate it. Today, we know the causes of the flu, but we are not acting effectively enough to contain it.” According to him, regular and efficient ventilation would be enough to effectively combat seasonal flu.
Furthermore, Antoine Flahault recalls that when a person is infected in their home, “the FFP2 mask remains an effective solution.” According to him, we could thus reduce the risk of contamination inside the home by 80%, provided that we ventilate regularly, have a separate room and wear a mask 50% of the time.