Flu epidemic grips France

EIGHT people have died as a result of a flu epidemic that is spreading across France, even as many struggle with the effects of gasto-enteritis, experts have said.

More than 500,000 people have suffered from sickness and diarrhoea in the past four weeks, while a flu outbreak that was first spotted in Brittany is now ‘installed across the entire metropolitan area’, according to InVS, which co-ordinates monitoring of flu in France, and the Sentinel-Inserm monitoring system.

The Sentinal network, the network of GPs that collates anonymous real-time data on the spread of communicable illnesses in France, said there had been 246 reported cases of flu per 100,000 people, with 55 more serious cases being admitted to intensive care with complications caused by other health factors. Eight of those died.

Last week, the OSCOUR network of A&E services reported 2,333 cases of influenze, resulting in 110 patients being admitted.

The Sentinel network also reported 148,000 new reported cases of ‘gastro’, taking the total number of people affected to about 574,000

The most affected areas last week were Limousin (372 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), Champagne-Ardenne (345) and the Nord-Pas-de-Calais (273).

InVS said that simple hygiene measures such as limiting contact, washing hands regularly, covering your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, and using disposable paper handkerchiefs help reduce the transmission of flu.

"Vaccination remains the best prevention to protect against influenza, reducing complications and the risk of hospitalisation," it added.

Photo: James Gathany - CDC Public Health Image library / Wikimedia