The epidemics of bronchiolitis and gastroenteritis continued to progress last week across the country, while influenza activity was still "weak" but increasing, with half of the regions in the "pre-epidemic" phase .
Bronchiolitis, a common respiratory illness that affects babies under the age of 2, resulted in just over 5,000 emergency room visits during the week of December 23, up 10% from the previous week, according to the weekly newsletter. the public health agency France.
A gastroenteritis epidemic during Christmas week
The epidemic has been underway in all metropolitan areas since the week of December 9. About a third (35%) of children seen in the emergency room were hospitalized, the vast majority (93%) of babies under one year of age. Bronchiolitis also motivated 797 visits by SOS Doctors (15% more than the week before). Caused by a virus, the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), bronchiolitis is very contagious and causes coughing and difficulty breathing, which becomes rapid and wheezing. Consultations in general medicine related to gastroenteritis, they, rose sharply during the Christmas week, with 289 consultations for acute diarrhea per 100,000 inhabitants, according to estimates by the Sentinelles network, against 177 the previous week.
Flu cases on the rise
Six regions of metropolitan France out of 13 were also in a “pre-epidemic” situation for influenza, against four the previous week, according to Public Health France. They are Burgundy-Franche-Comté, Brittany, Ile-de-France, Occitanie, Pays de la Loire and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. At the national level, there were "51 consultations for influenza-like illness per 100,000 inhabitants", against 46 the previous week. "The proportion of influenza-like illness among SOS Doctors consultations is also increasing slightly", to 3.7% instead of 3.5%, specifies the health agency.
61 serious cases had to be admitted to intensive care since the start of surveillance for this viral disease, 14 more in one week. Each year, seasonal flu affects 2 to 6 million people. It causes tens of thousands of emergency visits and causes an average of 10,000 deaths. Last winter, the epidemic had resulted in lower mortality than the average of previous years, but still significant, given its short duration, with approximately 8,100 deaths estimated during the two months of epidemic phase.
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- Influenza
- epidemic
- Gastroenteritis
- Sickness
- Health