The annual epidemic of bronchiolitis, which especially affects babies, began in mainland France, where Ile-de-France is the first affected region, but also in Guadeloupe and Martinique, Public Health France indicated this Wednesday, October 30.
The week ending October 27 was marked by the “passage of Ile de France, Guadeloupe and Martinique to an epidemic and of Brittany to a pre-epidemic” of bronchiolitis, the health agency summarized in a weekly balance of acute respiratory infections.
Another sign: “Syndromic indicators related to bronchiolitis were increasing in both community medicine and hospitals,” but “they remained at lower levels than those observed in the three years preceding the same period.”
Of the 1,552 children under 2 years of age treated in the emergency room for bronchiolitis from October 21 to 27, 497 were hospitalized, almost all of them babies under 1 year of age. Abroad, the epidemic has spread, knowing that Guyana has been suffering from bronchiolitis since the end of July.
Every year, during autumn and winter, bronchiolitis affects many French babies, most often following an infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which can also threaten the elderly.
Two preventive treatments
This season is marked by the rollout of two preventive treatments, AstraZeneca and Sanofi’s Beyfortus – an antibody administered directly to babies – and Pfizer’s Abrysvo – a vaccine administered before birth to pregnant women.
Beyfortus had already been the subject of an immunization campaign last year and the studies agree in concluding that it limited the hospitalization of babies in France and in the few countries where it was tested.
Public Health France also took stock of the evolution of Covid and seasonal flu, against which a combined vaccination campaign for people at risk, such as the elderly, began in mid-October.
As for the flu, the cases detected in mainland France remain so far “sporadic”, while abroad, Réunion has been affected by an epidemic since the end of September.
The decline of Covid continued, noticeable in community medicine, in hospitals but also in wastewater.
“In addition to vaccines and preventive treatments, the adoption of barrier gestures remains essential to protect oneself from all winter diseases: hand washing, regular ventilation of rooms, – use of a mask in case of symptoms, in crowded places and in the presence of vulnerable people,” recalled Public Health France.
Source: BFM TV
