Indicators falling, stable or slightly increasing. This is how we might summarize the point from Public Health France, this Wednesday, November 8. Health authorities have released their weekly trend bulletin and the news is pretty good on the outbreak front.
In the PACA region, although they noted a slight increase in activity in acute respiratory infections both among community doctors and in hospitals, only bronchiolitis saw its activity increase. The region is in a “pre-epidemic” phase but the epidemic has spread to most of the country. It has also accelerated in recent days, the public health agency announced on Wednesday.
Activity linked to bronchiolitis on the rise in France
During the week ending November 5, “the activity linked to bronchiolitis was clearly increasing in France”, summarizes a weekly report from Public Health France. Last year, it was the cause of an unprecedented epidemic in more than ten years, sending tens of thousands of infants to hospital.
The epidemic is currently less than at the same time in 2022 but several indicators – consultations with private doctors, visits to the emergency room – accelerated last week to return to the already high level of 2021.
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.
Covid in decline and only a few cases of flu
Public Health France has also given an assessment of two other diseases: Covid, which, good news, is in a downward phase. As well as seasonal flu which is, for its part, always limited to a few sporadic cases in mainland France while awaiting the inevitable annual epidemic. Only Reunion Island and now Mayotte, in a special situation because they are subject to a reverse climate in the Southern Hemisphere, are already in the epidemic phase.
