Flu: Should we still vaccinate as pandemic intensifies in France?

After spikes in contamination in Italy and Spain, the flu epidemic is intensifying across the country. Health officials therefore announced the extension of the vaccination campaign till the end of February. This decision has been taken because the flu virus remains active from November to April and the peak of the epidemic has not yet been reached.

Since the vaccination campaign began in October, health authorities have reported 288 cases, leading to 31 deaths. According to unstructured data from the Health Agency, Half of the victims were under the age of 65

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Low vaccination coverage

This season, only 38% of those at risk have been vaccinated, Sante Public France shows in a report. “All indicators rose sharply in community medicine and hospitals of all age groups” since mid-January.

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Although each flu epidemic is different, they “represent an average of 1 million consultations in community medicine, more than 20,000 hospitalizations, and about 9,000 deaths, concentrated in about ten weeks.” People most at risk — pregnant women, caregivers, immunocompromised people and seniors over age 65 — are most likely to develop a severe form requiring hospitalization. “In this regard, it is necessary to get vaccinated against the flu,” recalls the National Health Agency.

Effective against active stress

In general, vaccine effectiveness rates are between 40 and 60% and depend on the form of the virus in circulation. According to the first available trends this year, it is the A(H1N1) subtype that is in the majority. It accounts for 70% of infections. The A(H3N2) subtype has also been identified in some patients, but to a lesser extent.

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Flu: Masks return to Spain, record number of patients in Italy… Where is the epidemic in France?

The professor explains that “the formulation of influenza vaccines in the Northern Hemisphere is therefore determined by WHO experts between the months of February and March based on the data available on the late winter and the virus circulating in the Southern Hemisphere.” Bruno Lina, Director of the National Reference Center for Respiratory Infection Viruses in Lyon to our colleagues the point. The formulation of available vaccines integrates the antigenic profile of viruses active in this season.

Every year in France, vaccination saves an average of 2,000 lives among people over 65.