The H1N1 influenza A virus is circulating everywhere in New Aquitaine, and therefore in Corrèze. Although it is too early to know the extent of the impact of the epidemic, the Regional Health Agency gives us a portrait of the 2023-2024 winter flu: it mainly affects those under 65 and is extremely contagious. and rather fierce.
Like the whole of France, which only displays one color on the epidemiologists’ maps, in New Aquitaine, concerning the flu, “all the data is red”, summarizes Doctor Sylvie Quelet, advisor medical at the general management of the regional health agency (ARS) of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
While bronchiolitis is in the post-epidemic phase and the circulation of Covid is stable, the flu epidemic is booming. Here are three things to know about the 2023-2024 winter flu.
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1. She’s tough
From Bordeaux, ARS teams see surveillance data from the entire region: from hospitals, city doctors and a network of laboratories. Verdict: “the positivity rate is increasing very significantly, it is a high intensity epidemic, with high levels of severity. We have a high hospitalization rate,” underlines the specialist. Fortunately, this is not an epidemic of alarming severity: “we have, for the moment, no alert on mortality. »
So far, the flu has not particularly affected the hospital. “Maybe it will be different in a fortnight as the virus continues to rise, but at the moment it is calm. We do not see any notable impact on emergencies or on the number of hospitalizations,” indicates Dr Franck Picot, medical officer of health at the Brive hospital center.
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Jean-Marie Chaumeil, president of the Corrèze Order of Physicians, answers us. “At the moment, winter epidemics and in particular the flu are spreading. If the latter takes on a really significant dimension, I think it will be desirable to ask that the wearing of masks be generalized in waiting rooms and reception areas. from the public. Because the flu spreads like Covid.”
2. It mainly affects “young people”
Based on field data, Sylvie Quelet judges that this year’s flu “mostly affects young people, therefore people under 65 years old. We have viruses that will affect people who, traditionally, have not been vaccinated. Until now, older people were not affected. »
The scientist takes the opportunity to point out that “the flu is serious at the extreme ages of life. » Which does not mean that active adults should not protect themselves from it.
3. It needs to be taken seriously
With the flu, as with Covid, certain protective measures are necessary, for oneself and for others. If you have any doubt, a quick test at the pharmacy will help determine if you have the flu, Covid or a simple cold.
Washing hands, ventilating rooms, wearing a mask and teleworking when possible can play an important role in limiting the epidemic. Barrier gestures to adopt even if you feel ready to go to work. “We have to stop wanting to play the hero,” says Sylvie Quelet. Especially since it’s not nice, since we contaminate others, the virus being extremely contagious. »
And what about gastro? It ends
After the sharp increase observed during the last week of December, activity for acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in emergencies decreased at the beginning of January in New Aquitaine and reached a moderate level during the last week of January (1.4 % of total activity), explains Public Health France. The number of emergency room visits is relatively stable. The share of activity for GEA among those under 5 years old tended to stabilize at the end of January with 7.5% of the total activity recorded.
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