Key Points

• French Guiana is experiencing a flu epidemic for the 2024–2025 season.

• Over the past two weeks (W01-02), 75 emergency room visits for flu-like illness were recorded, compared to 31 visits in W51-52 (this indicator does not include data from the CHK, as the transmission of diagnoses made during visits has been interrupted since W28). The first two severe cases of influenza were reported by the adult and neonatal intensive care units at hospitals in western French Guiana and Cayenne.

• In decentralized prevention and care centers and local hospitals, 61 consultations for influenza-like illness were recorded during the first two weeks of January (W01-02) compared to 26 consultations during the last two weeks of December (W51-52).

• Samples collected in the community (private practitioners and clinical laboratories) or in hospitals, and analyzed by the National Reference Center for Respiratory Viruses at the Pasteur Institute of French Guiana (CNR), show co-circulation of A and B viruses, with the A/H1N1pdm09 virus being predominant.

• As of November 30, 2024, influenza vaccination coverage among at-risk individuals in French Guiana was 8.2%, compared to 35.2% in mainland France. It stands at 10.3% among people aged 65 and older (41% in mainland France) and 5.0% among at-risk individuals under 65 (19% in mainland France). In French Guiana, these coverage rates, although highly insufficient, are similar to those observed during the previous season at the same time.