Flu on the Rise Among Children in January: Here are the Departments Where they are Most Affected

After reaching a first peak at the end of 2025, the flu epidemic threatens to start to rise again, particularly among children under 15.

Can the flu start to rise again, after having passed a first peak during the holidays? After a brief decline at the end of 2025, the seasonal epidemic threat to resume, carried in particular by children, summarized this Wednesday January 14, 2026 Public Health France (SPF). It already causes a significant proportion of deaths, mainly among elderly people.

The recovery among the children could lead to an increase in the use of care among adults in the weeks to come ”, warned SPF in his weekly report. She considers it “very difficult to anticipate the impact that such an epidemic resumption could have on the healthcare system”.

In which departments is the flu prevalent?

For several weeks, the flu epidemic has been affecting this way the entire metropolis and most overseas regions. Only Reunion is spared but, after a first wave, it also seems threatened with a recovery.

Health authorities hoped that a peak had passed with the new year but, after a brief decline, consultations in the city have rebounded in recent days, “a particularly marked trend among children under 15”.

For children aged 0 to 4, here are the most affected departments:

For these children aged 0 to 4, the most affected departments are Corse-du-Sud (the emergency room rate for influenza is 18,604.65 per 100,000 emergency room visits), Haut-Rhin (16,233.77 per 100,000) and Val-de-Marne (16,059.48 per 100,000).

READ ALSO: Flu, Bronchiolitis or RSV? A Practical Winter Health Guide for Families in France

Toddlers are more affected than the next age group, children aged 5 to 15. For this category, the departments where influenza wreaks the most havoc are Corsica-du-Sud (14,736.84 per 100,000), also Haute-Corse (10,344.83 per 100,000) and Orne (9,239.13 per 100,000).

The trend remains generally decreasing in hospitals, but this tends to follow the evolution of community medicine a few days late. And hospitalizations are already increasing for those under five.

A significant proportion of deaths

Already, the public health agency has noted a persistent increase in flu-related deaths. It is too early to draw a numerical toll, but it is already possible to observe a trend by looking at the proportion of deaths officially caused by the flu among all deaths subject to an electronic certificate.

This proportion is now at the level reached at the peak of the 2024-2025 epidemic (7.2% compared to 7.4% at the time), and deaths largely affect those over 65, noted Public Health France.

Last season was marked by one of the most severe epidemics since 2009, with some 17,600 deaths attributed to the flu compared to around 10,000 on average. This balance sheet had been partly linked to low rates of vaccination.

If the proportion of French people vaccinated appears higher this season, with in particular more than half of those aged 65 and over vaccinated (53%), it remains far from the objectives.

Another major winter epidemic, the bronchiolitis, which focuses on toddlers, confirms its decline throughout the territory: several regions are going “post-epidemic” and Île-de-France has returned to a normal level.