Key Points

2024 Report

• A total of 3,778 enterovirus (EV) infections were reported, compared to 2,339 in 2023, representing an increase of approximately 60% linked to a significant number of EV-D68 infections.

• 2,151 cases of EV meningitis, with a summer outbreak of a similar scale to those seen in pre-COVID-19 years. The predominant types were echovirus 30 (E30), E9, and E7.

• Decrease in the proportion of neonatal infections: 494 cases, or 13% of EV infections (vs. 442, or 19% of EV infections in 2023). A severe infection was reported in 21 children (4%), and 4 newborns died. Severe cases were predominantly associated with coxsackievirus B (CVB, n=11). Echovirus 11, which caused severe neonatal infections and triggered an alert in 2023, did not circulate in 2024 (only one severe case reported).

• Unprecedented outbreak of EV-D68 infections: 919 reported cases, 49% of which were in adults (vs. 21% in 2023), linked to the co-circulation of clades B3 and D1, with clade D1 being the predominant strain for the first time since 2018. No significant resurgence of myelitis but a resurgence of severe respiratory forms, observed in 27% of children and 23% of adults; 11 patients died.

• Low circulation of EV-A71 (6 cases). Three patients presented with neurological symptoms, including rhombencephalitis in a 7-year-old child with Burkitt’s lymphoma.

• Detection of a type 3 vaccine-derived poliovirus (Sabin-like PV3) in a 6-month-old child who had traveled to Cameroon and of a wild PV3 in an employee exposed in an industrial setting.

• In the French overseas departments and regions (DROM):

  • Outbreak of hemorrhagic conjunctivitis caused by a Coxsackievirus A24 variant in Mayotte, early 2024.

  • No poliovirus detected during targeted stool screening of children under 5 years of age in Réunion.

  • Detection of circulating poliovirus derived from type 3 vaccine strains in French Guiana in several wastewater samples between May and August 2024: led to the implementation of environmental surveillance for one year with no further detection of this type, as well as catch-up vaccination campaigns by the ARS Guyane.

Provisional data as of June 25, 2025

• A steady increase in emergency department visits for viral meningitis since June, occurring later than in 2024. Data from the RSE do not yet confirm a resurgence of EV infections.

• Neonatal infections: 34 cases (13.1% of infections), including 2 severe infections associated with E11 and CVB4.

• EV-D68 infections: 8 cases between January and March 2025.