The 2009 flu pandemic, involving an outbreak of a new strain of influenza commonly known as swine flu (usually referred as grippe A or grippe porcine in French), reached France in early May 2009.
In order to respond to flu epidemics in France, the government has a "national plan"[1], which is also applied for this flu pandemic. In this plan, the different phases of the flu, which are slightly different from the OMS phases, are detailed.
Map of A H1NI flu pandemic in France (updated 17 June 2009)
Deaths with confirmed infections Confirmed cases Suspected cases No reported cases See also :
Flu pandemic H1N1 on Google Maps [edit] Government reaction to the flu
A governmental web site has been created[2] to inform the population of the dangers and good practices to avoid the spread of the disease.
The Institut national de veille sanitaire (National Institute for Sanitary Watch) is the body in charge of following the health situation in France. It issues a daily digest of the situation. It also issues the official French definition of cases: possible cases, probable cases, confirmed cases, excluded cases.[3]
The French government lags behind the decision of the World Health Organization to upgrade to phase 6. It is currently in phase 5A in France.[4].
A mandatory mass vaccination plan is currently being discussed.[5][6]
[edit] Timeline
The French government asks Europe to decide to cancel all flights to Mexico.
Stocks of Tamiflu and Relenza are 33 million.
On 1 May, the French Health Minister has confirmed, during the 8 p.m. TF1 news, that 2 cases of A(H1N1) flu have been detected in France.[7][8][9].
The government discusses the possibility of ordering 100 million vaccine doses against the flu from three companies (GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi and Novartis).
The French government plans to vaccinate the entire French population (65 million inhabitants)[10]
- 12 June: After a meeting about the crisis, Roselyne Bachelot, Minister of Health, states that there is "no active circulation of the virus in the population and no case of serious illness has occurred so far"[11].
- 15 June: 10 cases discovered among the students of a college at Quint-Fonsegrives in the suburbs of Toulouse. These students had not gone abroad before. This is the first case of contamination of a group of people who did not come back from an affected area in a foreign country. New cases continue to be discovered: on the 18th, the number is 16[12]. Authorities have decided to keep the alert level at 5A. The school was closed on the 15th and reopened on the 22th of June.
- 18 June: First case of serious illness.[13]
- 26 June: The number of cases reaches 239, of which 10% are not linked to any imported case from another country[14].
- 3 July: Minister of Health Roselyne Bachelot has underlined that that the situation of the flu in France is very different from the one in the United-Kingdom, with far less cases (around 300) in France than in the United-Kingdom (around 10000). She precised that the number of hospitals in France that can handle the patients should rise from 112 to 450 within a week[15].
[edit] August
- 1 August: First death recorded at the main regional hospital of Brest. Number of cases crosses one thousand. France has finally ordered 94 millions vaccines doses (2 by person are necessary), there is also a stock of more than 30 million anti-virus care doses (Tamiflu) and around 1.7 billion masks.[16]
- 12 August: Mohammed Moussaoui, who is the director of the Conseil français du culte musulman (French council of Islam) has advised to French Muslims not to go to Mecca for Ramadan (Umrah)[17]. France Television, the national network French television, which is part of the «vital companies» (the ones that the government has deciced that they should be able to operate even if the H1N1 pandemic become severe: electricity distribution companies, telecom companies, etc.), has prepared a plan on how to handle the broadcast of TV with 1/10 of its staff[18].
- 18 August: The government announce a plan for the re-opening of the schools (after the summer holidays), scheduled on September 2: If 3 children are detected with the virus in the same school, the prefet will have the possibility to close the school for a minimum of 6 days, in order to disinfect the whole building[19].
- 25 August: In New Caledonia (French overseas territory), around 15% of the population has been infected with the virus, killing 5 people in two weeks[20].
- 28 August: Government announces that a mass vaccination plan could begin on September 28, should the pandemy break out. Vaccination should be free and non-mandatory[21].
[edit] September
- 1 September: The A (H1N1) virus is the main flu virus in France[24].
- 16 September: The French Ministry of Health announces that the epidemic is starting with a limited impact, therefore it is not necessary to increase the alert level[25].
[edit] October
- 12 October: A study by Société française de médecine d'urgence forecasts that 20% of the French population could be infected[26].
[edit] France, by region
The detailed situation by region is updated by the National Institute of Health[27]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ (French) Plan national de prevention et de lutte "Pandemie grippale". Accessed 2009-08-28. Archived 2009-09-10.
- ^ (French) Pandemie grippale.gouv.fr
- ^ (French) invs.sante.fr. Accessed 2009-08-28. Archived 2009-09-10.
- ^ (French) France keeps level 5A. Accessed 2009-08-28. Archived 2009-09-10.
- ^ (English) voltairenet.org: Sarkozys Secret Plan for Mandatory Swine Flu Vaccination
- ^ (French) Nouvel Obs, Une campagne de vaccination obligatoire serait envisagee , 31/05/2009
- ^ "Grippe A: deux cas avérés en France". Lexpress.fr. http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/sciences/sante/grippe-a-deux-cas-averes-en-france_757934.html#xtor=AL-447. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
- ^ (French) Le Monde, La France contaminee a son tour par le virus A(H1N1) , May 2
- ^ (French) 20minutes.fr
- ^ (French) Le journal du dimanche, "The secret plan against the flu", May 30, 2009
- ^ (French) Roselyne Bachelot, Press conference, June 12th
- ^ (French) tf1.lci.fr
- ^ (French) Institut de veille sanitaire, BULLETIN EPIDEMIOLOGIQUE GRIPPE A(H1N1) 18 June 2009 @ 6pm
- ^ (French) Institut de veille sanitaire, BULLETIN EPIDEMIOLOGIQUE GRIPPE A(H1N1) 26 June 2009
- ^ (French) Interview of Roselyne Bachelot, I-Tele, July 3, 2009. Accessed 2009-08-28. Archived 2009-09-10.
- ^ Les Echos, 1 August 2009
- ^ Grippe A : le CFCM déconseille de se rendre en pèlerinage à La Mecque
- ^ (French)Grippe A: France Télévisions peaufine son scénario-catastrophe, 20 Minutes, 12/08/2009
- ^ (French)Article from La Tribune.fr, 18/08/2009
- ^ (French)Bulletin grippe AH1N1, 25/08/2009. Accessed 2009-08-28. Archived 2009-09-10.
- ^ (French)"Grippe A/H1N1 : un plan de vaccination gratuite et non obligatoire prêt à être activé dès le 28 septembre, si besoin est". Associated Press, 27/08/2009
- ^ Ligue Nationale de Rugby (2009-08-28). "Grippe A: 6 cas à Castres" (in French). Press release. http://www.lnr.fr/Client/Menus.asp?CR=16354&CSR=16373&CSSR=16423&Cle=113402. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^ Ligue Nationale de Rugby (2009-08-28). "TOP 14 Orange : Deux matchs reportes" (in French). Press release. http://www.lnr.fr/Menus.asp?CR=16373&CSR=16373&Cle=113407. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^ [1]
- ^ (French)http://news.doctissimo.fr/grippe-a-roselyne-bachelot-confirme-le-debut-de-l-epidemie_article5777.html] h1n1 flu : Roselyne Bachelot confirms that the epidemic is starting.
- ^ (French) Grippe A : le virus devrait toucher 20 % des Français by Société française de médecine d'urgence and Samu de France, October 12, 2009
- ^ (French) Institut de veille sanitaire. Accessed 2009-08-28. Archived 2009-09-10.
[edit] External links
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