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Health – Against the less immune French, the influenza epidemic is advancing. On Wednesday, December 22, the French public health authority said Occitanie is the first urban area to enter the epidemic phase. During his weekly publication.
In the week of December 13, the health agency counted 1,901 emergency visits for influenza or influenza syndrome, versus 1,213 the previous week. 171 people were hospitalized, while in the previous week 100 admissions were counted.
The increase in influenza cases, especially in children under 15 years of age, is pushing the Occitanie region into an epidemic phase. There are four metropolitan areas in the pre-pandemic phase: Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, Val-de-Loire Center, Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Ile-de-France. In the Overseas Territories, Mayotte is still in the epidemic stage, while Reunion is still in the pre-pandemic stage.
Decreased immune system
For months, doctors have warned of a flu pandemic that could be more severe than it was before the Covid-19 pandemic. Indeed, with the application of barrier and confinement gestures, the French were less exposed to respiratory illnesses such as influenza and thus became less immunized en masse.
With a respiratory virus occupying the field [le Covid]This prevents other viruses from spreading, especially influenza,” added Dr. Anne Musnier, who was interviewed HuffPost.
This result of the Covid virus was felt this fall with the epidemic of bronchiolitis, which mainly affects children and is present in all regions.
With the resumption of the coronavirus epidemic, caused by the Omicron variant, these data add to the hospital stress that I’ve been feeling for several weeks. Health Minister Olivier Veran noted in an interview with Le Parisien in mid-December that “the health pressure is increasing and we are concerned by many factors”. […] There is care that can no longer be deprogrammed, caregiver fatigue, influenza return, bronchiolitis epidemic, and trauma,” the doctor observed through training, fearing “the hospital peak between Christmas and New Years.”
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