Over the past week in the region:

• Flu activity remains very high in the sixth week of the epidemic. While activity reported by SOS Médecins and virus isolations by virology laboratories are showing more moderate growth, emergency room visits for influenza and intensive care admissions for severe influenza are rising sharply. This epidemic is having a particular impact on the elderly, with emergency room visit rates and mortality well above expected thresholds.

• The A(H3N2) virus, which differs from the vaccine strain, remains predominant. The very low effectiveness of the flu vaccine against this virus has been confirmed at the European level.

• This epidemic is causing significant disruptions in healthcare operations: major hospitals have activated their "hospital under strain" plans to cope with the increased demand for hospitalization, particularly among the elderly.

• Outbreaks of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in nursing homes are rising sharply, with 32 new outbreaks in the past week out of the 116 reported since September 2014. The hospitalization rate is higher than that observed in previous years (8.5% vs. 7%). Recommendations for the use of antivirals for both treatment and prevention have been distributed to nursing homes (HCSP advisory of November 9, 2012). Early treatment with oseltamivir reduces the risk of hospitalization by 63% (Lancet, January 31, 2015).