Flu

As in most other regions, this is the first week of the flu epidemic, with a sharp increase in all flu-like illness surveillance indicators (SOS Médecins and emergency departments) as well as in the isolation of influenza viruses by the hospital virology laboratories at the Nantes and Angers University Hospitals.

Currently, the increase mainly affects children and young adults. To date, 13 cases of severe influenza have been hospitalized in the region’s intensive care units; all are under the age of 70. The number of new outbreaks of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in long-term care facilities remains very low for the season.

The majority of viruses isolated in the region are type A (not subtyped). Nationally, in outpatient settings, the A(H1N1)pdm subtype is dominant. The low frequency of A(H3N2) virus isolation is reassuring for the elderly over the next two weeks, but it is still too early to predict the course of the epidemic.