An epidemic that continues to strengthen. Seasonal flu continues to spread throughout all regions of mainland France, according to the latest bulletin from Public Health France (SpF) published this Thursday, January 2. Last week, acute respiratory infections were “clearly increasing”, both in hospitals and in community medicine, affecting people of all ages, notes the health agency, which has placed the entire territory hexagonal in epidemic phase. “All flu indicators were still rising sharply,” she further specifies.
Elderly people and those under 15 years of age very affected
In detail, people aged 65 represented almost two thirds of hospitalizations for an acute respiratory infection in the last week of 2024. More generally, the flu is intensifying “in all classes of people.” age” and reached a “very high level among those under 15”, notes SpF. In the overseas departments, the flu epidemic is also raging in Martinique, while Guadeloupe and Guyana are less affected and placed in the “pre-epidemic” phase.
The health agency also provides an update on the epidemic of bronchiolitis, a disease which can seriously affect infants. This continues in eleven regions of France, but its intensity is decreasing for the second week in a row, both in community medicine and in hospitals. The Antilles, Mayotte and Guyana are also in the epidemic phase. The bronchiolitis epidemic, on the other hand, is arriving in territories in which it had not yet been very widespread this winter. This is the case in Corsica and Reunion, which are both in the “pre-epidemic” phase, while Ile-de-France is emerging from the epidemic.
Finally, regarding Covid-19, the indicators remain “generally stable at low levels” compared to the previous week. “Vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself against influenza and Covid-19, in particular serious forms of these diseases,” recalls Public Health France. This is recommended “to all eligible people, in order to protect them and those around them”, in particular people aged 65 and over or those who are immunocompromised, infants over six months with comorbidities, pregnant women, residents of medico-social establishments of all ages.
Vaccination is also encouraged for people in regular contact with people who are immunocompromised or vulnerable to severe forms of infection, including health professionals. In addition, the adoption of barrier gestures remains essential to protect oneself from all winter diseases, recalls SpF. Washing your hands, ventilating rooms and wearing a mask in the event of symptoms (fever, sore throat or cough) in busy places and in the presence of vulnerable people is therefore recommended.