2023-10-27 10:55:45
The double epidemic of flu and gastroenteritis continues in Reunion. In week 42, the health impact intensifies for the flu despite a drop in emergency room visits. For bronchiolitis, health indicators are decreasing in children under 2 years old following three consecutive weeks of increase. (Photo photo Sly/www.imazpress.com)
Regional epidemiological update – Week 42 (October 16 to 22, 2023)
Emergency visits decreased in W42 (n = 4,105) compared to the previous week (n = 4,381). Emergency visits for under-15s were also decreasing in W42, with a drop of 11% compared to W41. Among people aged 65 and over, the number of emergency visits in S42 remained stable compared to S41 (+1.0%).
The participation of the network of sentinel doctors was 71% in W42 compared to 89% the previous week. The number of city consultations was down in S42 with a number of 1,502 consultations in S42 (school holiday period) compared to 2,833 in S41.
Consultations for ARI were stable in W42 (6.4% vs 6.3% in W41) while they were decreasing for gastroenteritis (2.9% in W42 vs 3.6% in W41).
– COVID-19 in emergency –
The number of visits to the emergency room for reasons of COVID-19 still remained low with a drop in visits to S42 compared to the previous week (3 visits to S42 versus 6 visits to S41) (Figure 3).
The number of hospitalizations following a visit to the emergency room for reasons of COVID-19 was also low with only 2 hospitalizations in W42 versus 3 hospitalizations in W41 (Figure 4).
– Mortality (all causes) –
In S40, the number of deaths observed for all ages and all causes was 96 individuals. The number of deaths observed was slightly down compared to W39 (n=102) and was lower than the expected number of deaths (n=109).
Among those under 15, 3 deaths were observed in W40 (2 deaths expected), and was stable compared to the previous week (2 deaths observed).
Among those over 65, in S40, 70 deaths were observed vs. 82 expected. This figure was slightly down compared to the S39. The deaths observed in S39 numbered 74.
No significant excess mortality from all causes has been observed since week 34-2022 (from August 8 to 14, 2022) in Reunion.
– Flu –
After several weeks of increased visits to the emergency room for reasons of influenza-like illness, the number of visits to the emergency room for influenza-like illness decreased by 20% in W42 compared to the previous week (63 visits to the emergency room in W42 compared to 78 visits in W41) ( Figure 5). Hospitalizations decreased with 17 hospitalizations in W42 vs 22 in W41. People aged under 15 accounted for 24% of emergency room visits for influenza-related illness in W42. The share of emergency activity for reasons of influenza nevertheless remained low, representing only 1.6% of total activity.
Since the start of the flu epidemic, a total of 12 serious cases have been reported by the intensive care units, including 9 adults and 3 children. For adults, the median age was 62 years. In terms of sex ratio, all serious adult cases were women. Severe adult cases had at least one comorbidity. From a virological point of view, the majority of cases had contracted influenza type A(H3N2).
The intensification of the health impact continues in H42 despite a decline in other indicators.
Virological surveillance identifies a majority of circulation of type A(H3N2) influenza (Figure 8). The positivity rate was stable in S42 with 43% of tests positive for influenza viruses in S42 compared to 44% in S41, still showing intense viral circulation in Reunion Island.
Reunion Island remains in a flu epidemic.
In community medicine, the share of activity for acute respiratory infections (ARI) was stable with 6.4% of total activity in W42 compared to 6.3% in W41, remaining above the 2013-2022 average (Figure 7).
– Bronchiolitis (in children under 2 years old) –
Visits to the emergency room for bronchiolitis in children under 2 years of age were decreasing in W42 following 3 consecutive weeks of increase (Figure 10). In W42, 41 children aged under 2 years went to the emergency room for bronchiolitis compared to 51 the previous week (Figure 10).
The number of new hospitalizations was slightly down in W42 with 14 hospitalizations versus 17 in W41 (Table 1).
The proportion of visits to the emergency room for bronchiolitis among all visits of children under two years old was 10.4% in W42 compared to 12.2% in W41.
Concerning virological surveillance, the RSV positivity rate was 3% in W42 with 3 RSV type B and 1 RSV type A. In W41, only two samples were positive for RSV and type B (Figure 10). Reunion was not in the context of a bronchiolitis epidemic.
– Gastro –
In W42, visits to emergency departments of all ages for reasons of gastroenteritis were slightly up with 152 visits compared to 142 visits in W41, a moderate increase of 7% (Figure 11). The number of hospitalizations, however, was down with 23 hospitalizations in W42 vs. 29 in W41 (-21%).
In children under 5 years old, visits to the emergency room for reasons of gastroenteritis were stable (n=81) compared to the previous week (n=85) (Figure 12). Hospitalizations following a visit to the emergency room were also stable with 11 hospitalizations in W42 as in W41.
In W42, the share of emergency activity among those under 5 years old for gastroenteritis was 12.1%, identical to the previous week.
Reunion remains in the context of a gastroenteritis epidemic.
In community medicine, the share of activity for acute diarrhea was decreasing and stood at 2.9% in W42 (Figure 13). The share of activity was slightly above the 2013-2022 average.
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