Traditionally, winter is considered the season with the most deaths. But the start of winter 2014-2015 was particularly deadly, reveals the Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS). An increase in mortality of 17% compared to the expected average was thus measured, and mainly concerns people over 65 years of age. The InVS thus notes around 3,500 deaths instead of the 3,000 expected, a trend observed in nine other European countries.
If the InVS bulletin concerning the health surveillance of mortality does not list the causes of these many deaths, it is all the same more or less correlated with the flu epidemic this winter, the strongest for 5 years.
The disease, which has affected 2.5 million people, has just started to decline in early February. However, its activity remains strong in many regions of France, particularly in Limousin (1,642 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), in the Midi-Pyrénées region (938 cases per 100,000 inhabitants) and in Champagne-Ardenne ( 936 cases).
Already 98 dead since the start of the epidemic
In his very last epidemiological assessment on the subject of influenza, the InVS specifies that those over 65 represent almost half (48%) of the 970 serious cases of influenza admitted to intensive care since November 1, 2014. “The number of hospitalizations is still increasing among patients. people aged 65 and over whereas it decreases in the other age groups ”, we can read in the bulletin.
Since the resumption of surveillance, 4,533 emergency visits for flu have been identified, and 98 people have died. The most severe cases were mostly infected with H3N2 viruses, mutated strains that have vaccine escapes this year.
But if we are to believe Professor François Bricaire, head of the infectious diseases department at La Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital interviewed by The Parisian, influenza and all its respiratory and cardiac complications could cause between 5,000 and 7,000 deaths in all this winter, against the 2,000 to 3,000 “usual” deaths.
Rest assured, theepidemic whose peak was reached almost two weeks ago is now on the decline, so the number of new cases should also decrease in the coming days.
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