France seeks to confirm flu epidemic

PARIS (AFP) – The estimated number of flu cases — including swine flu — in France has reached epidemic proportions, according to preliminary data released Wednesday.

“Last week the number of visits to doctors for flu in mainland France was estimated at 52,300, which is to say 83 cases per 100,000 inhabitants,” said the National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm).

The threshold for declaring an epidemic is 80 cases per 100,000.

“We will have to see the same figures for a second week to confirm that the threshold has been passed and confirm the start of an epidemic in France,” Dr Thierry Blanchon told AFP.

Not all the cases have been confirmed as flu, and not all are the new A(H1N1) virus, a global pandemic which the World Health Organisation says has killed 2,837 people around the world since it emerged in April.

Inserm said it was hard to be sure to what extent the extra consultations — there were 45,500 more visits to the doctor last week than in the same period last year — were linked to swine flu panic rather than actual cases.

If confirmed, an official health warning could be issued next week