2023-09-22 15:08:32
Published on Sep 22, 2023 at 4:23 p.m.Updated September 22, 2023 at 5:08 p.m.
The unprecedented campaign to fight bronchiolitis is off to a good start. A relatively large number of parents are choosing to administer to their young child the treatment available since this month to prevent the ravages of this respiratory virus.
Ile-de-France is experiencing a “high rate of adherence” to this brand new means of prevention, the region’s Regional Health Agency (ARS) indicated this Friday. This rate has fluctuated “between 50% and up to 90% in several Ile-de-France maternity hospitals” since September 15, the launch date of the prevention campaign targeted at newborns and children born following February 6, 2023.
23,000 visits to the emergency room last winter
“This is very good news”, welcomed the head of Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Nicolas Revel, evoking on Wednesday a level of support for the campaign carried out in the group’s hospitals higher than that expected (40 to 50%).
“There is strong demand, more than anticipated,” also rejoices Philippe Besset, president of the Federation of Pharmaceutical Unions of France (FSPF).
The good start of the prevention campaign should reassure health professionals, particularly those working in hospitals. Because Beyfortus, the treatment developed by AstraZeneca and Sanofi, protects its beneficiaries for six months and should make it possible to avoid eight hospitalizations out of ten.
The bronchiolitis epidemic was particularly virulent last winter. In Ile-de-France alone, it had been responsible for more than 23,000 visits to the emergency room for children under two years old, of whom 7,000 had to be hospitalized, according to the ARS.
Staff shortages
Undermined by staff shortages, many hospitals found themselves overwhelmed by the arrival of these young children in the departments. Some of them had to be urgently transferred outside Ile-de-France, due to lack of space.
The authorities are therefore banking on administering the treatment even before babies leave the maternity ward. For young children born between February 6 and September 15 of this year, it may be available in pharmacies, upon presentation of a prescription.
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