Key Points

• The national flu epidemic threshold has now been exceeded for nine consecutive weeks. With the start of school holidays, the epidemic may begin to subside in the coming weeks.

• Since mid-January, the proportion of influenza and influenza-like illnesses in the caseload of the two SOS Médecins associations in Strasbourg and Mulhouse has risen sharply. It appears to have stabilized over the past three weeks for the Strasbourg association but continues to rise slowly for the Mulhouse association.

• Data from the Unified Influenza Network show a slight decrease in incidence in week 7 in the Alsace region, but this trend is not observed in mainland France, where incidence continues to rise slightly.

• In Alsace, since the start of the flu epidemic, 16 severe cases of flu requiring intensive care have been reported to the CIRE.

• According to data from the virology laboratory at the University Hospitals of Strasbourg, during the week of February 11–17, 43% of positive influenza samples were of serotype B and 56% of serotype A, with an equal proportion of A(H1N1)pdm09 and A(H3N2).