Flu. Well being authorities concern a comeback this winter

Fever, complications, cough, and irritated throat… Well being authorities concern a extra extreme seasonal flu epidemic throughout this winter. The flu epidemic in Australia, the place the flu is already circulating, earlier than reaching the northern hemisphere, suggests a powerful comeback of the virus. The nation has certainly simply had its worst flu season in not less than 5 years, based on NBCNews .

Learn additionally: REPORTAGE. Behind the scenes of the flu vaccine

Decrease immunity

The flu impacts 2 to eight million individuals in France every year, “with an extra of mortality attributable to the flu, from 10,000 to fifteen,000 deaths, primarily in fragile topics”, recollects the Pasteur Institute.

The authorities concern an elevated severity of the flu in France and underline the present low vaccination protection.

“There have been only a few vaccinations in earlier years. So immunity tends to drop within the basic inhabitants,” experiences epidemiologist Jean-Daniel Lelièvre, head of the infectious ailments division at Henri-Mondor Hospital on France data .

Learn additionally: MAINTENANCE. Covid-19: “The rhythm of the waves doesn’t lower, it accelerates”

The French much less attentive to barrier measures

The epidemiologist additionally deplores a leisure of barrier measures on the finish of the Covid-19 disaster, though the epidemic has began to rise once more in current weeks.

“We use the masks a lot much less, we pay much less consideration. After which, if we glance a bit at what is occurring within the southern hemisphere, we see that the kinds are extra extreme,” he additional provides.

A discovering shared by immunology professor Alain Fischer. “There’s a severe threat of an influenza epidemic,” he judges in a current interview with Parisian. In keeping with him, the flu has “maintain a distance” for 2 years, due to the barrier measures put in place in opposition to Covid-19, however he fears that this yr, the identical stage of safety (masks, distancing, intensive hand washing, and so on.) is not going to be maintained.

The significance of vaccination

In an interview at West France the brand new Minister of Well being François Braun referred to as on the delicate inhabitants to be vaccinated, stressing the potential of concurrently receiving a dose in opposition to the flu and the Covid. “I actually attraction to the aged, or to individuals liable to the illness: you will need to get vaccinated”.

On Monday, the vaccination marketing campaign for the extra booster dose in opposition to Covid-19 started, for so-called “in danger” populations, integrating new bivalent vaccines, tailored to Omicron sub-variants.