Thousands hit by gastric flu

Regions affected are Alsace, Centre, Languedoc-Roussillon, Limousin and Poitou - Charentes. They have all seen soaring levels of the illness which, while extremely unpleasant, is rarely serious apart from in babies and the elderly.

GPs who are part of the Sentinelles illness monitoring network say Limousin is the region worst affected by gastric flu. An epidemic is classed when cases rise above 204 per 100,000 of the population and Limousin has 723. Next is Alsace with 371 cases, Centre and Languedoc-Roussillon with 250 and then Poitou-Charentes with 212. The average infection rate across France as a whole is 132 per 100,000.

GPs from Sentinelles suggest a diet without fibre to help cut discomfort and to maintain a good fluid intake.

Elsewhere, they also picked up a higher incidence of asthma and chickenpox.

Poitou-Charentes was again one of the hotspots, with 68 cases per 100,000 as against a national average of 22. Other areas hit were Rhône-Alpes, Bretagne, Bourgogne, Aquitaine and Auvergne.

Chickenpox rose in Haute-Normandie, Champagne-Ardennes and Corsica.