Eight people in La Réunion have now been admitted to intensive care with severe flu, six of them in a single week, according to figures published by Santé publique France this week. Behind those numbers are families adjusting to a flu season that shows no sign of easing, with health authorities confirming the epidemic is still gathering strength rather than receding.
For the fifth consecutive week, the epidemic has been classified as being of “high intensity.” Between 5 and 11 October, 199 people went to emergency departments, the highest number of emergency visits recorded since the epidemic began. That pressure is felt most directly in hospital waiting rooms, where households have been arriving with fever, coughs and the exhaustion that comes with the virus. There is one piece of relief, though: hospitalisations fell by 56 percent over the period. Even so, authorities caution that the epidemic peak has not yet been passed, meaning residents may still face weeks of elevated circulation before conditions improve.
Meanwhile, the strain is visible in doctors’ surgeries across the island. After a brief dip, GP consultations are climbing again. Acute respiratory infections now account for 12.7 percent of all reasons for consultation, a sign that flu viruses and other respiratory pathogens, including rhinovirus, are still circulating very actively. For families, that means the familiar cycle of sick children, missed work and repeated trips to the family doctor is likely to continue.
On the question of which virus is responsible, influenza A of the H1N1pdm09 type remains dominant, though influenza B strains are on the rise. Rhinovirus circulation, by contrast, has been declining for the second consecutive week, a small measure of good news for households juggling multiple illnesses at once.
One option open to residents is vaccination. The campaign in La Réunion began on 28 September and runs until 28 March 2027. While the vaccine is recommended above all for the most vulnerable, anyone from the age of six months can receive it, giving families a window of several months to protect themselves if they choose to do so.
Young children are also at the centre of another concern. Emergency visits for bronchiolitis among babies under one year old have risen for the third consecutive week, adding to the burden on parents of infants during a season when several illnesses are circulating at once.
A gastroenteritis epidemic is under way on the island too. It has remained at a high level, though it is now beginning to decline after four weeks of high intensity. In total, 141 emergency visits were recorded across all ages, including 71 among children under five. Eight of those visits led to hospitalisation, three involving children under five, figures that underline how heavily the youngest residents are bearing the effects of the current wave of illnesses.
Taken together, the indicators point to a difficult stretch ahead for the island’s households. Rising emergency visits, renewed growth in GP consultations, severe flu cases in intensive care and continuing bronchiolitis and gastroenteritis activity mean families across La Réunion are navigating several epidemics at once. With the peak not yet reached, the message from health authorities is essentially one of vigilance: the situation remains serious, hospitalisations have eased for now, and vaccination remains available until the end of March 2027. Whether the coming weeks bring the peak, or a further climb in cases, is what families across the island will be watching.
Further details on the epidemic’s progression can be found in the original report published by Outre-mer La 1ère: https://la1ere.franceinfo.fr/reunion/l-epidemie-de-grippe-s-intensifie-a-la-reunion-le-pic-epidemique-n-a-pas-encore-ete-franchi-1748742.html