Health | Bronchiolitis: hospitals in Vaucluse deploy Beyfortus, this antibody which can save infants

2023-09-24 08:40:31

In relation to the strong epidemic of bronchiolitis which overwhelmed France last year, breaking “records” locally, the hospital centers of Avignon and Cavaillon-Lauris are involved in the promotion of Beyfortus, developed by the Sanofi laboratories .

This is a new preventive treatment for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), the main cause of bronchiolitis. This respiratory disease, which is mild in adults and older children, can cause serious forms in children under two years of age which, in certain cases, lead to heavy hospitalizations or even death.

Loïc Souriau, departmental director of the Regional Health Agency (ARS PACA); Pierre Pinzelli, director of the Avignon and Cavaillon-Lauris hospital centers; Karine Ronat, general coordinating director of care; Sandy Duval-Grima, senior health executive at the healthcare department, as well as Doctor Sylvie Lamoureux-Toth, head of the women, mother and children center and head of the pediatric department, spoke about the reality of the epidemic facing Vaucluse was faced in 2022. Their desire is to ensure the safety of newborns from this disease.

It is therefore a real commitment that these hospitals are making by launching this prevention campaign. The treatment was able to be administered last year but it is this year that its effectiveness appears particularly significant.

300 hospital visits and 152 hospitalizations

Between September 1 and October 15, 2022, the Avignon hospital center, the only establishment in Vaucluse to handle pediatric hospitalizations, has the highest number of cases in the region with 300 passages for bronchiolitis, including 152 hospitalized children – – compared to 96 at the Nord hospital and 102 at Timone in Marseille as well as 147 at Lenval in Nice. These cases have led to an overload in pediatrics and the need to open more beds or transfer, every day, between three and four sick children to hospitals in Marseille. This is a “record” for 10 years… And it is possible to avoid this happening again this year.

So the prevention campaign began last week. The nursing staff and nursing students are responsible for contacting the 2,000 families whose child was born after February 6 and those still in maternity wards, because they have not yet developed immunities, to offer this treatment, taken in charge by the State, and provide them with the prescription.

It is not a vaccine but antibodies targeting RSV, which prevent 80% of serious forms within a few days after its administration, for a period of six months, without causing any real adverse effects. It must be collected from a pharmacy before being administered all at once by a doctor, a nurse, a pediatrician or a member of the Maternal and Child Protection (PMI).

Without appointment, at the hospital

From this Monday, September 25, the injection can also be done without an appointment from Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Avignon Hospital. 60% of people contacted have given a positive response since the start of the campaign, and without categorical refusal. This effort by hospital staff should enable better care during the peak of the epidemic.

Barrier gestures to respect

Vauclusian healthcare staff, however, emphasize the importance of respecting barrier gestures so that bronchiolitis does not gain too much ground. This involves washing hands, cleaning objects with which the child comes into contact, wearing a mask in the event of a cold, cough or fever, or even avoiding exposing the infant to confined public spaces. Indeed, RSV is very contagious and affects one in three babies each winter, treatment alone is therefore not sufficient to prevent the disease and its serious forms.