2023-10-17 03:30:00
Public Health France publishes a summary of epidemiological and virological data from the 2022-2023 flu season in the country, which shows greater circulation of the disease and an impact on the healthcare system than usual.
The flu vaccination campaign is launched. From this Tuesday until January 31, it is possible to be vaccinated once morest this seasonal virus, particularly for those over 65 and people with co-morbidities.
“With a view to the 2023-2024 winter season, it is appropriate to recall the importance of prevention, in particular through influenza vaccination in people at risk, supplemented by barrier measures to limit the spread of viruses in those around them. cases”, writes Public Health France in a document released this Friday.
Last year’s epidemic was “early and exceptionally long”, with a first wave “of very high intensity and marked by a significant impact among those under 65 in hospital”.
Two epidemic waves
The 2022-2023 epidemic was marked by the occurrence of two successive waves dominated by different influenza viruses (A(H3N2) and B/Victoria, respectively), which contributed to its unusually long duration. It “is the earliest and the longest observed during the period 2011-2022”, specifies Public Health France.
The first wave occurred concomitantly with significant circulation of other respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the Covid virus, and was marked “by unusually high severity among young adults”.
Then, it was followed by an epidemic rebound at the end of January, of lesser magnitude, mainly due to the second virus, B/Victoria. This second wave mainly affected those under 15 and had a low impact in terms of severity.
Impact of a triple epidemic
The overall impact of this flu epidemic was significant across all age groups, but particularly among those under 15 and 15-64 years old, in comparison with previous flu epidemics, report health authorities. .
During the 19 epidemic weeks, the number of consultations for influenza-like illness was estimated at 2,073,000. In addition, the Oscour network recorded 110,918 visits to the emergency room for flu or influenza-like illness, followed by 15,828 hospitalizations, two highest values since 2017.
The majority concerned people aged 65 and over, with 54% of hospitalizations, compared to 15% among those under 5 years old, 7% among 5-14 year olds and 24% among 15-64 year olds.
Among the serious cases admitted to the intensive care unit, 54% were men, the median age was 59 years and the majority of cases were aged 15 to 64 years. “There were 70% of cases which presented at least one comorbidity or risk factor for serious influenza,” details Public Health France.
The winter of 2022-2023 was marked by a triple epidemic of bronchiolitis-Covid-19-flu, the effects of which added up, causing strong tensions on healthcare provision and high excess mortality.
Vaccination coverage
According to Public Health France, vaccination once morest seasonal flu has been reported for 14% of serious cases in 2022-2023
In total, for that year, vaccination coverage once morest influenza was estimated at 56.2% among those aged 65 and over and at 31.6% among those under 65 at risk of serious illness. These figures are lower than the previous year, “but remain higher than those of the seasons preceding the Covid-19 pandemic”.
“These two factors may have contributed to limiting the impact of the flu among those aged 65 and over,” writes Public Health France.
The absence of an influenza epidemic in 2020-2021 due to the health crisis and the moderate-scale epidemics in 2019-2020 and 2021-2022 “resulted in less exposure of the French population to influenza viruses during these last three years and might, at least in part, explain the particularly intense impact of the flu this season.
In addition, the more systematic use of flu tests since the Covid-19 pandemic may have contributed to increasing flu figures last winter compared to before the pandemic.
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