Yasmina Kattou, edited by Yanis Darras
The flu is making a comeback. After a lull in January, the epidemic is soaring again. The cause: the B/Victoria virus. Not necessarily more virulent, this strain had not appeared in France for more than seven years and particularly affects children, who had not yet encountered this flu.
She hasn’t said her last word yet. After four weeks of calm, the flu is picking up again, to the point that the vaccination campaign has been extended for a month, ending on March 31. This rebound is due to the B/Victoria virus, now in the majority, and which replaced influenza A which circulated at the start of winter.
If it is not more virulent, influenza B particularly affects the youngest. “The B / Victoria virus had not circulated for seven years”, explains at the microphone of Europe 1 Christine Campese, epidemiologist at Public Health France. “It is mainly spreading among children because it is a population which had not (yet) encountered this virus and which is free from it”, she continues.
“High fevers, body aches…”
And for those who have already had the flu at the start of winter, infectious disease specialist Benjamin Davido calls for caution. “These are sporadic waves or the particularity, since we haven’t seen this flu for a long time. It is extremely tricky since it can infect people who had already had the flu in October by giving all possible flu-like symptoms: high fevers, body aches, etc.
The doctor therefore recommends to the most fragile to be vaccinated, because there is still time to avoid any serious form.