According to a report published on Thursday, the number of legionellosis cases recorded in France in 2023 reached a record high. A 16% increase compared to 2022 with 2,201 cases. This confirms an upward trend observed since 2017.
Legionellosis is constantly increasing in France. According to the latest report published on Thursday, the number of cases recorded in 2023 reached a record: 2,201, a 16% increase compared to 2022. This confirms an upward trend observed since 2017. This serious lung infection, caused by the legionella bacteria, has a mortality rate of 9%. Contamination can occur through the respiratory tract by inhaling the bacteria, via micro-droplets suspended in the air. The disease is not contagious from person to person.
The number of cases notified in 2023 reached a record number since monitoring began in 1987. A marked increase in the number of legionellosis cases has been observed in France since 2017, a trend also reported at the European level.
According to an epidemiologist in charge of the case, several hypotheses can explain this increase. Among them, “meteorological factors that influence the survival of legionella,” the bacteria responsible for the disease, including the “combination of rising temperature, precipitation and therefore humidity“. Factors that are observed with climate change.
Aging population and increasingly efficient diagnostics
Another hypothesis is “the aging of the population,” the disease affecting more particularly seniors and frail people. The median age of infected people has thus increased in recent years: it rose from 62 years in 2010 to 67 years in 2023. Diagnostic methods are also increasingly efficient, “which may also contribute to explaining the increase in cases“.
Since the beginning of monitoring, the identification of sources of contamination has made it possible to implement numerous regulations in order to limit the risk associated with legionella (water networks, cooling systems for cooling towers, misters, etc.). However, in 2023, two major episodes of clustered cases were identified, without being able to know the source of contamination. “It is therefore important to persevere in identifying these new sources of contamination“.
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