Fighting a virus means fighting them all: if the Covid-19 epidemic is very present in France, the flu has still not started precisely thanks to the barrier gestures adopted to counter the new disease, indicated the French public health agency.
"
The impact of influenza still seems to be significantly reduced compared to previous years thanks to the adoption of barrier gestures
," notes the health agency, publishing its weekly influenza surveillance bulletin.
Since the start of surveillance in late September / early October, there has been "
no active circulation of influenza viruses
" in mainland France, according to this bulletin.
In addition, over the same period, "
no serious case of influenza was reported by the services participating in this surveillance
", no admission to intensive care having been recorded for this reason.
Helpful gestures
By way of comparison, last year, the flu sent 61 patients to intensive care between early November and late December, including nine in the last week of December, the one currently underway.
In recent months, health authorities have frequently recalled that generalized barrier measures to combat the new coronavirus (hand washing, physical distancing, mask, etc.) were also useful against other winter viruses that cause flu or gastro.
"
In the current context, physical distancing and barrier gestures are essential to limit the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic and other viruses
", underlines Public Health France in its influenza bulletin.
In mid-December, the health agency indicated that the flu vaccination had jumped this year among people at risk.
The authorities this year particularly encouraged the French to get vaccinated against the flu in order to avoid overcrowding the emergency services already faced with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read also: "Be reassured": Véran responds to criticism of the slowness of vaccination in France
