All metropolitan regions are currently in the phase of a flu epidemic, the peak of which is expected in the coming days. To stop the progression of the disease, the Minister of Health insists on vaccination and respect for barrier gestures.
Be careful, peak in sight! While all regions of mainland France are already in the flu epidemic phase, according to Public Health France and the Pasteur Institute, health professionals, in pharmacies and hospitals, are preparing for the peak of the epidemic expected in the coming days, that is to say in the middle of the Christmas period.
Alexandra Gaertner, pharmacist in Boofzheim, in Bas-Rhin, tells BFMTV that she was able to note the arrival in her pharmacy of patients coming with “a good flu condition” and “fairly marked symptoms this year”.
To try to stop the progression of the number of cases and minimize the severity of the disease in the event of contagion, the first solution is to get vaccinated. Compared to the previous flu season, Alexandra Gaertner ordered 10% additional vaccine doses. “Last year, we were a little short on vaccines,” she admits.
An increase in vaccinations
The first figures for this campaign are also rather encouraging, with a 17% increase in the number of vaccinations compared to last year, Stéphanie Rist, Minister of Health, Families, Autonomy and People with Disabilities, highlighted this Saturday, December 20 on BFMTV.
And for those who have not yet taken the vaccination plunge, it is not yet too late, especially for those most at risk, whether they are over 65, pregnant or carrying comorbidity factors.
“There is still time (to get vaccinated) for those who have not yet done so, since you know that with the holidays, there will be even more mixing of the population, which will also lead to more sharing of the virus,” explained the minister, insisting on the fact that “there are stocks of vaccines”.
However, vaccination should not make us forget barrier gestures, such as washing hands, ventilating rooms and wearing a mask in the event of symptoms, she recalled.
Crisis units in hospitals
As for hospitals, emergency services are also preparing for a possible influx of patients. “There are crisis cells which have re-formed in most hospital groups”, notes to BFMTV Benjamin Davido, infectious disease specialist at the Raymond-Poincaré hospital in Garches (AP-HP).
For the moment, “we are not in the situations that we have experienced, which are those of ‘white plans'”, he notes, while around a hundred measures of this type, providing for the deprogramming of operations and the recall of staff members on leave, had been triggered in 2024-2025.
This flu season proved particularly severe with around 17,000 deaths and some 30,000 hospitalizations. “This year, the epidemic dynamics are almost the same,” warns Benjamin Davido.
