Activated seizure cells, pediatricians launching a cry of alarm… Bronchiolitis is back in France and the epidemic is only growing.
The wave of contamination that is expected to be particularly strong this winter after a blank year due to Covid, now affects almost the entire metropolis (12 out of 13 regions) after reaching Brittany, health authorities said on Wednesday.
In its weekly update on this respiratory disease which affects babies, the French public health agency notes a "continued sharp increase in monitoring indicators for bronchiolitis in children under 2 years".
With Brittany spent this week in the epidemic phase, only Corsica remains, for the metropolis, in the pre-epidemic phase.
[#Bronchiolitis] Epidemiological bulletin of November 3
➡️ Continued sharp increase in monitoring indicators for bronchiolitis in children under 2 years old
👉 To consult the bulletin https://t.co/TY0siH4dxa pic.twitter.com / litvVO4GIw
- SantépubliqueFrance (@SantePubliqueFr) November 3, 2021
During the week of October 25, of the 4,189 children under two seen in the emergency room for bronchiolitis, 3,777 (90%) were under one and 1,395 (33%) were hospitalized.
Of the children hospitalized, 1,289 (92%) were under one year of age.
Children under one in intensive care
Common and highly contagious, bronchiolitis causes babies to cough and difficult, fast, and wheezing.
Most of the time benign, it may however require a visit to the emergency room, or even hospitalization.
In the Paris region, from mid-October, the five pediatric intensive care units, with around 70 beds, were already overflowing, well before the usual period.
To read also Bronchiolitis: it is necessary "to limit the visits to the circle of very close adults", warns the French Society of paediatrics
Last winter, confinements and anti-Covid barrier gestures helped block all viruses, including RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), responsible for bronchiolitis. The children were less infected than usual and therefore have less immunity, raising fears of a stronger epidemic this year. In general, periods of bronchiolitis are not particularly alarming for specialists. But this year, the virus appeared particularly early.
This phenomenon could also concern other winter viruses, including those of influenza or gastroenteritis.
France launched its annual seasonal flu vaccination campaign ten days ago.
To prevent the spread of winter viruses, the health authorities insist on the need to continue barrier gestures (hand washing, masks, safety distance).