winter flu: sharp rise in deaths and “very high hospital activity”

Winter flu: sharp rise in deaths and “very high hospital activity”

January 15, 2025

The winter flu epidemic has intensified in cities across France and has generated "very high hospital activity" and a "clear increase in deaths" in the second week of the year, Public Health France said on Wednesday.

The week of January 6 to 12 was marked by a "marked severity of the epidemic", which reached a "high level of intensity in all age groups", according to the weekly bulletin published by the health agency.

The dynamics differ according to age groups: influenza has increased in community medicine among those under 65, particularly children, but has slowed slightly among people aged 65 and over.

In hospitals, emergency room visits and hospitalizations of children under five for flu or flu-like illness have increased sharply. But those of people in all other age groups have decreased, while remaining at "a very high level of intensity."

And the share of deaths with a mention of influenza among all electronically certified deaths continued to increase (7.3% compared to 5.9% the previous week), "indicating a marked severity of the epidemic". This represents 611 deaths over the week ending January 12.

This share of deaths due to influenza even climbs to 12.4% in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, 9.4% in the Grand Est, 9.2% in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and 7.9% in Hauts-de-France and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, the health agency specified.

Three strains of the virus are circulating, A (H1N1), A (H3N2) and B/Victoria.

Overseas, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyana are in the epidemic phase, Mayotte in the pre-epidemic phase.

Faced with the "intense" circulation of influenza and its impact on hospitals, the Ministry of Health called on Tuesday for "great vigilance" to "protect the most vulnerable", assuring that there will be enough doses to vaccinate until the end of January.

As of November 30, influenza vaccination coverage was 35.2% among all people targeted by vaccination, 41% among people aged 65 and over, and 19% among those aged under 65 at risk of severe influenza, according to SPF figures.

These vaccination coverages are lower than those estimated for the 2023-2024 season on the same date, the health agency specifies.

On the other hand, the majority of bronchiolitis indicators are decreasing: in mainland France, five regions are in an epidemic situation, as are, overseas, Martinique, Guyana and Mayotte, while 7 others are in a post-epidemic situation.

The circulation of Covid-19 is stable at low levels, specifies SPF.

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