No territory is spared. The flu epidemic continues to progress in France and is now present in all regions of mainland France, according to data transmitted this Wednesday by Public Health France. The past week has seen “a continued increase in all indicators”, indicates the public health agency. Corsica is the last region to enter the epidemic phase.
The rise of the flu has repercussions on city medicine and the hospital. The intensity of activity linked to the epidemic has increased there over the past week, going from “low” to “moderate” in both cases. Outside mainland France, the flu remains present in French Guiana, but the epidemic there appears to be on the decline.
Less immunity
This rise in the flu is unusually late. In recent years, the peak – measured by the consultation rate in relation to the number of inhabitants – took place in February. This phenomenon was “most likely favored by the end of winter school holidays and the easing of control measures for the Covid-19 pandemic”, according to Public Health France, which recalls the importance of barrier gestures.
However, winter 2020-2021 was special due to the containment measures taken against Covid-19. They had, by extension, made it possible to block the circulation of many other microbes, such as the flu virus. But the French, less infected than usual, are also less immunized collectively, which may have favored a resumption of the epidemic this winter.
As for the 2021-2022 flu vaccine, initial data estimate its effectiveness at 50% against all influenza viruses, but they will have to be consolidated in the coming weeks, according to the health agency.