2023-11-22 16:31:56
The annual epidemic of bronchiolitis, which mainly affects babies, spread during the week of November 13 to 19, according to Santé Publique France. From now on, almost all metropolitan regions are affected by the epidemic phase.
The bronchiolitis epidemic is spreading. Twelve out of thirteen mainland regions are now in the epidemic phase. Only Corsica is spared, according to the weekly bulletin from Public Health France, published this Wednesday, November 22. Overseas, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyana are also affected by the epidemic.
In addition to the extent of this annual epidemic which mainly affects infants and babies, a “clear increase” in the number of cases was noted in the week of November 13 to 19, in “city and hospital”. 4,662 visits to the emergency room were recorded during the week for children under two years old, and 1,423 were hospitalized, including 1,331 under one year old. 23 children under the age of two were also admitted to intensive care, and 22 under the age of one.
In community medicine, among the 7,625 SOS Médecins trips for children under two years old, 772 were linked to bronchiolitis.
Hospitalizations lower than last year
The previous week, from November 6 to 12, the epidemic was “decreasing or stable”. A situation which could, however, be explained by the school holiday period.
Bronchiolitis, caused primarily by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), causes breathing difficulties in babies. Generally not serious, it can nevertheless lead to visits to the emergency room and hospitalizations.
Last year, it was the cause of an unprecedented epidemic in more than ten years, sending tens of thousands of infants to hospital. The current level of hospitalizations remains lower than last year, but it is too early to draw conclusions about the scale of the epidemic.
One of the big questions is the effect that a new preventive treatment, Sanofi’s Beyfortus, will have. Initially offered to all babies born since February, it is currently reserved for maternity wards, pending new stocks. The Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, announced Sunday in Le Monde the order for 50,000 new doses from Sanofi.
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