This Monday, February 28 marks the end of the flu vaccination campaign. As in 2020, the influenza epidemic did not emerge during the winter of 2021-2022. However, it was not completely absent: certain French regions experienced epidemic peaks, such as Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Corsica and Ile-de-France, according to Public Health France.
But these are figures far removed from the large waves that doctors could see several years ago, like the gastroenteritis. “Rather, a plateau is observed and the indicators remain at generally low levels“, analyzes Sibylle Bernard-Stoecklin, epidemiologist at Public Health France. Overseas, only Guyana was in the epidemic phase in mid-February, but the indicators of influenza were decreasing.
Among the reasons put forward by specialists to explain the weak impact of the flu on the epidemic level during last winter, the first is that, obviously, of the fifth wave of Covid-19, which swept everything away, crushing its competitors in competition between viruses. “It is possible that the very strong circulation of Covid-19 this winter, with the Omicron variant, may have limited the circulation of influenza viruses concomitantly“, precise Sibylle Bernard-Stoecklin
Second explanation, vaccination against influenza has prevented serious forms. Thus, 51.4% of people at risk have been vaccinated against influenza in France, according to estimates, which date from the end of 2021. A “significantly lower” proportion compared to the end of 2020, particularly among those under 65 at risk of severe flu. The flu could, until then, cause between 10,000 and 15,000 deaths each year in France.
Finally, the barrier gestures made it possible to limit the influenza epidemic, “such as the strengthening of telework, the wearing of masks in schools, in public transport or more generally in public spaces“, details Sibyl Bernard-Stoecklin. With one exception, however: the epidemic of bronchiolitis in young children, very strong this year, in all metropolitan areas. It intervened in the fall, before the Omicron wave.