France is now the second European country to sound a warning about the latest version of H3N2 swine flu!  Unlike Norway, France says the number of infections in their country are nearing epidemic levels!

Cases are escalating in the French areas of Ile-de-France, Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.  Health care providers are seeing an average of 148 cases per 100,000 people.  Officially, epidemic levels would be 168 per 100,000 people.

On February 8, Norwegian health officials warned of a potential outbreak in their country.  At the end of January, Japan officially reported 1.74 million people infected with H3N2!

Norwegian health officials are urging people to get flu shots, but back in France health officials say it’s too late!  It takes 15 days for a flu shot to be of benefit, but it’s obvious that Europe is indeed getting whacked by H3N2 right now.