So far spared, Corsica is no longer immune to flu symptoms, which has been sweeping across France
The whole of France shivered and blew his nose during the first week of January including Corsica, hitherto spared . The flu epidemic threshold is crossed throughout mainland France.
From the 1st to the 7th January, 423 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (with a 95% confidence interval) was recorded by the sentinel network of general pediatricians and volunteers spread throughout France, backed by the National Institute of health Surveillance (VS) . This represents some 275,000 new flu cases.
The Ile-de-France, the first region to have been affected by the flu virus, but is now exceeded by Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur with 785 cases per 100 000 inhabitants then by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (642 cases) and Occitan (517 cases). Influenza down slightly in the Paris region, Brittany and the Center-Val-de-Loire.
In this first week of 2018, 237 people were admitted to intensive care. Since the 1st November, 2017, 818 serious cases of influenza were reported (slightly more than half were aged between 15 and 64 years). In 76% of cases, patients are infected with the influenza A virus.
While some 14,000 deaths “attributable to the flu” of 2016-2017 were, for almost all aged 75 and over, the distribution of deaths among the “serious cases” reported on the 1st November is different.
Younger patients than usual
This flu epidemic affects a younger age group than usual. “Excess mortality from all causes was observed among 15-64” in the week of December 11th to 17th, the health agency wrote. However, it is too early to draw conclusions. But at a press conference on 5 January the Minister of Health Agnes Buzyn had raised this atypical nature of the epidemic.
“This is an epidemic that is severe this year […] with a strain of virus circulating and is little known by the immune system young. There are many children and young people today to the ED, “she said.
France is among the 10 European countries where the epidemic has a “moderate-intensity activity,” while “28 Others reported a low intensity activity.”
