Influenza viruses continue to progress throughout France, with “a clear increase in positivity rates in town and in hospitals”, indicates Public Health France (SPF) in its weekly monitoring report on acute respiratory infections. Eleven regions out of thirteen in mainland France are now in the epidemic phase, with the arrival of Pays-de-la-Loire in the dance, and Martinique is in the pre-epidemic phase. Generally speaking, acute respiratory infections (mainly flu, Covid-19 and bronchiolitis) represented 22% of consultations with SOS physicians, 8% of visits to the emergency room, and 14% of all hospitalizations.
Last week, more than 30% of samples taken in the city tested positive for the flu, and nearly 11% in hospital. The number of consultations with general practitioners continues to increase, but activity remains stable at the hospital with 1.6% of emergency visits for all ages combined, and 1.5% of hospitalizations. 187 inhabitants per 100,000 consulted in the city for a flu syndrome, all ages combined and according to an estimate made from data from the Sentinels network; there were “only” 174 the last week of December.
Covid-19 continues to wreak more havoc than the flu: since the beginning of October, 131 serious cases of flu and 433 cases of COVID-19 have been reported by the intensive care units participating in surveillance (“non-exhaustive surveillance”, specifies SPF). 9 deaths from influenza were reported, including 6 among those aged 65 and over, and 66 deaths from Covid, including 53 among those aged 65 and over, according to unconsolidated data. Among 6,114 deaths declared by electronic certificate, “1.4% were with a mention of influenza as a morbid condition having directly caused or contributed to the death” while Covid-19 “was mentioned in 6.2% of deaths”.
However, Covid seems to be on the decline, even if its circulation remains “still active”. A smaller proportion of the tests carried out were positive (17% in community medicine, down 8 points, 14% in biology laboratories, down 5 points, and 14% in hospitals, down 3 points ), while monitoring of wastewater at 12 treatment plants shows a 49% drop in virus concentrations compared to the last week of December. Biology laboratories declared 12,140 new cases, or an incidence rate of 18 per 100,000 inhabitants. Consultations with SOS doctors, emergency room visits and hospitalizations decreased very slightly (-0.3 to -0.7 points). The JN.1 sublineage of the BA.2.86 variant has “become the majority variant in mainland France”, underlines SPF.
As for bronchiolitis, the epidemic continues in 8 regions but the number of under-two-year-olds seen in town and in hospital is down slightly, and 5 regions have passed the epidemic peak (Centre-Val-de-Loire , Île-de-France, Normandy, Pays de la Loire and Brittany). 27% of children’s visits to the emergency room resulted in hospitalization, down for the fifth consecutive week, by 6 points last week. 25 intensive care hospitalizations of children under 2 years old with bronchiolitis were recorded, or 38.5% of the total in this age group.
“In this context and in addition to vaccination against influenza and COVID-19, the systematic adoption of barrier gestures by all remains essential, considers Public Health France, in particular the wearing of a mask in the event of symptoms, in busy places and in the presence of people at risk, hand washing and regular ventilation of enclosed spaces.” Barely 30% of those over 65 benefited from the autumn vaccination campaign against Covid-19, a third of these vaccinations having been carried out at the same time as the flu vaccination.
