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Paris (AFP)
Among the winter epidemics, gastroenteritis is getting worse in mainland France, the flu continues to grow, while bronchiolitis is still rife.
The flu continues to grow, and if no region has crossed the epidemic threshold in metropolitan France, eleven out of thirteen reached the pre-epidemic phase last week, against half the previous week, according to the weekly bulletin of the sanitary agency Public Health France published Wednesday.
The epidemic of bronchiolitis, a frequent respiratory disease that affects babies under 2 years of age, continues in all regions of metropolitan France as well as in the Antilles with the exception of Saint-Barthélémy.
It led to fewer emergency visits to children under 2 years of age in mainland France during the first week of January (-17%). Among the 4,253 children under 2 years old seen in the emergency room for bronchiolitis, more than a third (1,574 or 37%) were hospitalized. The vast majority (95%) were less than a year old.
Caused mainly by a virus, the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), bronchiolitis is very contagious and causes coughing and difficulty breathing, which becomes rapid and wheezing.
Since influenza surveillance began on November 4, 2019, 95 severe cases of influenza have been admitted to intensive care, including 19 in the first week of January. Of these 95 cases, six deaths have been recorded.
According to the Sentinelles-Inserm surveillance network, gastrointestinal for its part marked “strong activity”, increasing in general medicine during the week from December 30 to January 5.
In mainland France, last week, the rate of new cases of acute diarrhea seen in general practice consultations was estimated at 326 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
The regions most affected by gastrointestinal last week are New Aquitaine (462 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), Grand Est (426) and Pays de la Loire (415).
© 2020 AFP
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