As winter approaches, bronchiolitis, this respiratory infection which mainly affects babies between 0 and 2 years old, is spreading across France. It generally begins at the edge of winter and peaks during the month of December. According to the last weekly report of Public Health France published on October 18, last week (from October 9 to 15), activity in community medicine and hospitals “continued to increase for bronchiolitis in children under 2 years old”.
Six territories in epidemic phase
In mainland France, the Brittany and Pays de la Loire regions, and Guyana for overseas territories, have entered the epidemic phase. They join Ile-de-France, affected a week earlier, as well as Martinique and Guadeloupe. Five other regions are in the pre-epidemic phase.
Among children under two years old, 1,950 visits to the emergency room for bronchiolitis were recorded, or 8.7% of visits (compared to 7.9% the previous week). The number of hospitalizations after bronchiolitis was 597, or 19.1% of hospitalizations (compared to 17.9% the previous week). But “at the hospital level, the increases observed remained lower than those of the two previous seasons”, however specified Public Health France.
“In this context, it is necessary to be particularly vigilant and apply barrier measures, particularly in the presence of children under 2 years old,” recalls the agency. Bronchiolitis, caused primarily by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), causes babies to have difficulty breathing. Generally not serious, it can sometimes lead to visits to the emergency room and hospitalizations.
A vaccine to contain the explosion of severe cases
To prevent any epidemic risk in view of winter, an immunization campaign was launched throughout France in mid-September. 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 overwhelmed with Covid and flu epidemics. Nearly 500,000 infants were affected.
One of the major challenges of this 2023-2024 season is therefore to know whether the launch of the baby immunization campaign, via the Beyfortus preventive treatment from the Sanofi laboratory, will have been effective in reducing hospitalizations. Victim of its success, this treatment has now been reserved for maternity hospitals, pending new stocks. According to initial studies, the risk of bronchiolitis drops by 80% after injection of the molecule. One dose is enough to immunize the infant for 5 months. Babies under one year old are mainly targeted by the campaign.