While attention is currently focused on the new coronavirus from China, all regions of metropolitan France have now entered the seasonal flu epidemic, another viral disease that kills thousands every winter.
“Indicators of influenza activity” recorded a “sharp increase” last week and the epidemic broke out in Normandy, the last metropolitan area that was still spared, according to official weekly figures published Wednesday by Santé Publique France .
Consultations for influenza-like illness recorded by the Sentinelles network jumped 62% compared to the previous week, to 301 per 100,000 inhabitants, while influenza represented 15.3% of the reasons for visits by SOS Doctors against 11.3% the previous week, detailed the public health agency France.
Nearly 9,000 people went to the emergency room for influenza-like illness (+ 56%, at 8,821 passages). Among them, 810 were hospitalized, 72% more than a week earlier.
26 people died from the flu
Unlike in other years, children seem to be significantly affected by the epidemic: children under the age of five account for almost a third of emergency room visits and hospitalizations for influenza.
Since November, 311 serious cases have been admitted to intensive care, of which 26 have died. The average age of these serious cases is 52 years and 73% had risk factors for complications (over 65 years of age, chronic diseases, etc.). Among the latter, three-quarters were not vaccinated against influenza (among those whose vaccination status was known).
Each year, seasonal flu affects 2 to 6 million people. It causes tens of thousands of emergency visits and leaves 10,000 people dead on average. Last winter, the epidemic had resulted in lower mortality than the average of previous years, but still significant, given its short duration, with approximately 8,100 deaths estimated during the two months of epidemic phase.
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