The triple epidemic that marked the end of 2022 seems to be coming to an end. The ebb began with the ninth wave of Covid-19, which gradually gave way to the flu during the month of December. After reaching exceptionally high levels, the share of hospitalizations for flu-like illness continued to decline sharply between January 9 and 15, dropping from 22 to 9 hospitalizations per 1,000 inhabitants in one week. All of the metropolitan regions were still in the epidemic phase, according to the epidemiological bulletin published by Public Health France (SPF) on January 18. “The flu often has a fairly unpredictable profile so we remain vigilant regarding the possibility of a rebound, but we currently have very few positive samples”nuance Romain Hernu, head of emergencies at the Croix-Rousse hospital, in Lyon.
At the same time, the huge wave of bronchiolitis cases – caused mostly in infants by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), but also by rhinoviruses – have fallen back to low levels following the peak in early December 2022, the highest of the last ten years. The epidemic is officially over in Ile-de-France, while six metropolitan regions have moved into the post-epidemic phase, according to the latest data from SPF.
Thanks to the immunity acquired by the population, the health impact of the wave of Covid-19 carried by the BQ.1.1 sub-variant remained relatively moderate compared to the previous ones. But hospitals had to manage the collateral effects of two years of barrier gestures: a higher than usual number of people who had not contracted viral infections for a long time, and therefore more likely to catch the usual cohort of viruses. wintry.
“While we expected the flu and RSV to come back in force, we had not anticipated that the resurgence of winter viral infections would also promote invasive bacterial superinfections”, adds Anne-Claude Crémieux, professor of infectious diseases at Saint-Louis hospital in Paris. In this respect, the increase in serious cases of infection with streptococci A should serve as a warning. As to whether a previous infection with Covid-19 might have favored infection with another respiratory virus, we will have to wait for the results of cohort studies carried out in particular in England. In fact, very few cases of influenza-Covid-19 co-infection have been recorded: only sixteen in France during the winter.
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