2023-10-11 16:11:23
The annual epidemic of bronchiolitis, a disease which mainly affects babies, has now started in France where it has spread to the Paris region as well as Guadeloupe and Martinique, public health authorities announced on Wednesday.
Last week (from October 2 to 8) was marked by the “transition into the epidemic phase of Île-de-France, Guadeloupe and Martinique” in terms of bronchiolitis, announced the agency Public Health France in a weekly report.
“In this context, it is necessary to be particularly vigilant and apply barrier measures in the presence of children under 2 years old,” warns the agency. These measures include avoiding taking your baby to a public, confined place, or passing your baby from arm to arm in family gatherings.
Bronchiolitis, most commonly caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), causes babies to have difficulty breathing. Generally not serious, it can however lead to visits to the emergency room and hospitalizations.
Last season, the epidemic was on a scale unprecedented in more than a decade, driving tens of thousands of babies into hospitals in persistent crisis and already struggling with Covid and flu.
However, this year, the figures “are comparable to (those of) the two years preceding the same period, reflecting an early start again in activity linked to bronchiolitis”, notes SpF.
One of the major issues of the season is to know whether the launch of a vast campaign to immunize babies, via the preventive treatment Beyfortus from the Sanofi laboratory, will have been effective in reducing hospitalizations. Victim of its success, this treatment has now been reserved for maternity hospitals while waiting for new stocks.
Public Health France, which now simultaneously gives its figures on the circulation of bronchiolitis, flu and Covid, has also reported a decline in this after a wave in recent weeks.
However, among the oldest people, therefore the most vulnerable, we still see “a slight increase in hospitalizations”.
Finally, as for the flu, the disease remains in a few “sporadic” cases.
A Covid vaccination campaign, targeted at people at risk, was launched at the beginning of October, before the start of the flu campaign in a few days.
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