Key Developments

In Occitanie, the COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread across several departments, and the region is the first in mainland France to enter the flu epidemic phase for this winter season.

Winter Epidemics

In week 50, the continued rise in all flu indicators, particularly among children under 15, has led to the region entering the epidemic phase. Occitanie is the first region in metropolitan France to enter the epidemic phase for this winter season. Disparities are observed across departments, with already high levels of circulation in the eastern part of the region (Hérault and Gard) and lower but rising levels in the western part of the region. The circulation of influenza viruses will be closely monitored in the coming weeks, particularly given that the hospital system is already under strain from the current COVID-19 epidemic, compounded by the bronchiolitis outbreak.

COVID-19

The screening strategy deployed in France aims to track mutations that may impact the virus’s characteristics. Since June 2021, the E484K, E484Q, and L452R mutations have been targeted. However, since the emergence of the Omicron variant—which carries none of these mutations—enhanced monitoring of screening results has been implemented to identify samples likely to contain it (profile coded A0B0C0). However, this monitoring is not specific to Omicron, as other variants share this same screening profile (such as B.1.640). This is why a new code (D) was added on December 20 to collect results from additional screening tests targeting several mutations specific to Omicron. Due to the recent change in nomenclature, screening data have not yet been consolidated and will not be presented in this epidemiological update.