She had taken a break for the school holidays. But bronchiolitis is making a comeback. The epidemic, which mainly affects babies, has resumed its progression in recent days, the public health agency alerted on Wednesday, with all metropolitan regions now being affected except Corsica.
Last week, “activity linked to bronchiolitis in children under two years old was increasing in town and in hospitals”, summarized Public Health France in its weekly report. From now on, all mainland regions are in the epidemic phase, with the exception of Corsica. Overseas, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyana remain affected by the epidemic.
Holiday break
This therefore marks a resumption after a break at the beginning of November, attributed by Public Health France to school holidays, likely to reduce contact between children in the community. 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. One of the big questions is the effect that a new preventive treatment will have, Beyfortus from Sanofi, which has met with strong support from parents to the point of being a victim of its success.
New doses of Beyfortus
Initially offered to all babies born since February, its deliveries were quickly restricted. The Minister of Health announced Sunday in The world the order of 50,000 new doses from Sanofi. Aurélien Rousseau also judged, last week, that Beyfortus was already proving its worth in hospitalization figures, even if pediatricians are generally more measured and consider such conclusions too early.
Visits to the emergency room for bronchiolitis are certainly less frequent than last year, which was particularly harsh, but the change is hardly noticeable compared to previous seasons. On the other hand, these passages seem to lead less often to hospitalizations, particularly in intensive care units for the most serious cases.