The annual bronchiolitis epidemic starts early, for the third year in a row. Île-de-France, Guadeloupe and Martinique were placed in the epidemic phase the week of October 2 to 8, the agency announced Public Health France in a weekly report. “Among those under two years old, 1,653 visits to the emergency room for bronchiolitis were recorded” in one week, specifies the epidemiological bulletin, which represents more than 7% of visits to the emergency room for this population. “The number of hospitalizations after a passage for bronchiolitis was 503, or 17.7% of all hospitalizations in children under 2 years old”, indicators which are all increasing.
This respiratory disease most often caused by the respiratory syncytial virus mainly affects babies, in whom it can cause difficulty breathing and require a trip to the emergency room or hospitalization when it becomes complicated. Five entire regions, Grand Est, Normandy, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitane and Pays de la Loire, are already identified as being in a “pre-epidemic” situation and expect to move to the epidemic stage in the next “one to two weeks”.
Early but potentially not as dangerous
This year again, the start of the epidemic is at the same time as the previous two years, with figures comparable to the same period “reflecting a once again early start of activity linked to bronchiolitis”, notes SpF. Bronchiolitis was usually seasonal and very regular, starting in mid-November and ending around the end of January… Until winter 2020. After an initial start delayed in February due to reinforced barrier gestures during the 2020-2021 season, on the contrary, started particularly early (from the beginning of October) the following two winters. A pattern that is repeating itself this year.
But an early epidemic does not mean a serious epidemic. Last season, the epidemic was of an unprecedented scale for more than ten years, leading more than 73,000 babies to emergency departments, and more than 24 babies to be treated in hospitals in persistent crisis and already struggling with Covid and the flu. This year, doctors are waiting to know if the vast immunization campaign for 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.
The triple epidemic is not yet relevant
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.
In this context, it is necessary to be particularly vigilant and to apply barrier measures in the presence of children under 2 years old to prevent bronchiolitis, Public Health France nevertheless specifies.