GrippeNet.fr: Update at the Peak of the 2013 Flu Season

On February 27, influenza surveillance data confirmed that the seasonal flu epidemic had peaked. For the second consecutive year, the website www.grippenet.fr is collecting data on flu-like symptoms directly from the French population. Currently, more than 5,800 volunteers have already registered and are participating in this new surveillance and research system, launched by Inserm, Pierre and Marie Curie University, and the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance. GrippeNet.fr is currently the only system in France capable of studying flu-like symptoms among sick individuals who do not seek medical care.

Since the start of the epidemic, the percentage of GrippeNet.fr participants reporting symptoms consistent with a flu-like syndrome has increased, rising from 1.2% of participants per week in late December to 2.5% in early February.

Since the start of the epidemic, 62% of GrippeNet.fr participants with flu-like symptoms have not sought medical care. Since the start of the second season, more than 2,000 new people have registered to participate in this study, and nearly 4,000 people currently report each week whether or not they have experienced symptoms since their last login. The average age of participants in the second season of GrippeNet.fr is currently 45, and 62% of participants are women.