2023-08-25 15:57:22
“Nirsevimab may be prescribed to all infants born from February 6, 2023 in mainland France”, announced the Ministry of Health.
A preventive treatment for bronchiolitis for newborns will be available within a few weeks. It will be possible to obtain Beyfortus, developed by the Sanofi and AstraZeneca laboratories, “from mid-September” in health establishments and, on order, in pharmacies, indicated the Ministry of Health in a document sent to health professionals.
This monoclonal antibody (nirsevimab) is one of the options once morest respiratory syncytial virus, the main cause of bronchiolitis, in infants during their first season of exposure to RSV.
“Available from mid-September in health establishments and on order in community pharmacies, nirsevimab may be prescribed to all infants born from February 6, 2023 in mainland France”, is it specified in the document (DGS Urgent) from the Ministry. For Overseas, the “specificities (…) are under investigation”.
About 480,000 cases each year
The single injection, in the muscle, can be done in some cases at birth. For infants born from September 15, it is recommended that they be “immunized before leaving the maternity ward”, the ministry told caregivers.
The antibody can also be administered in town, in general practice, pediatrics or health centers. In this case, it will require “a prescription by the doctor who follows the child”, according to the document. “The parents will then go to the community pharmacy to order and then collect the medicine which will be made available by the State, without invoicing the families”.
In France, it is estimated that bronchiolitis affects almost 30% of infants under the age of two each winter, i.e. approximately 480,000 cases per year. And 2-3% of infants under the age of one are hospitalized with severe bronchiolitis.
“A partial response to the medical need”
The bronchiolitis epidemic in France reached a level last winter unprecedented for more than ten years: it required more than 26,000 hospitalizations following a visit to the emergency room in children under two years old, according to numbers from emergency services.
Alongside an information campaign on bronchiolitis aimed at parents, the deployment of a preventive treatment once morest bronchiolitis will constitute “one of the major challenges of the new school year”, declared the Minister of Health Aurélien Rousseau at the beginning of August. the day following the green light from the High Health Authority for reimbursement.
Beyfortus provides “a partial response to the medical need” because there is not yet data to “support a possible impact” on the duration of hospitalization, transfer to intensive care or intensive care, mortality, according to the HAS.
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