An epidemic “precocious”of “high magnitude”, “probably more deadly than in previous years”… Qualifiers multiply among specialists to describe the flu wave currently affecting France.
If the first cases were detected at the end of October 2022 in Brittany, the circulation of the virus quickly accelerated, placing all the French regions in the epidemic phase at the beginning of December, whereas the flu usually imposes itself rather in January. The indicators are now particularly high in Hauts-de-France, as well as in Ile-de-France, Normandy and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
The data collected by the French public health agency (SpF), from doctors’ offices, SOS Médecins and emergency services, all show an explosion in the use of care for flu-like syndromes, i.e. – say a fever above 39 ° C, of sudden onset, accompanied by muscle pain and difficulty respiratory.
These symptoms are not specific to the influenza virus, which causes the flu, and can also be caused in adults by rhinoviruses, the respiratory syncytial virus – in particular responsible for bronchiolitis in infants –, or even SARS-CoV-2 , whose ninth wave has been ebbing since mid-December 2022.
“A classic situation in winter”
“We cannot exclude that some of the cases are actually Covid-19 cases, but this is probably a minority phenomenon.assures Sibylle Bernard-Stoecklin, of the infectious diseases department at SpF. Viral data [fournies par les tests] in town and at the hospital have enabled us to realize that our indicators in the emergency room and at SOS Médecins are still very well correlated with the circulation of influenza viruses. »
Otherwise, a survey conducted by SpF among emergency services between November 2021 and March 2022 shows that two-thirds of establishments systematically carry out a test in the event of flu-like illness, either using a rapid antigen-type test, or by PCR, the result of which is given before the patient is discharged. A reliable way to ensure contamination by the flu virus.
The figures from the intensive care units seemed, until December 25, 2022, quite low, comparable to the 2021 data. . Raw figures should therefore be taken with caution. But everywhere, the flu takes precedence over the Covid-19 in the hospital. In the intensive care units of the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), as of January 2, a quarter of the beds are occupied by patients diagnosed with flu, against 7% of Covid-19.
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