This breathing disease that affects babies is already present in eleven of the thirteen regions of metropolitan France.
Le Monde with AFP
After a white year due to COVID-19, the bronchiolitis epidemic could be particularly strong this winter, according to the health authorities. It is already present in eleven of the thirteen regions of metropolitan France, and the last two, Brittany and Corsica, should soon join them.
In its Weekly point on this breathing disease that affects babies, the agency Public Health France Note Wednesday 27 October a “continued strong and early increase in bronchiolitis monitoring indicators in children under 2 years of age”. In France, all regions are in the epidemic phase, with the exception of Brittany and Corsica, which are in pre-epidemic phase.
Common and very contagious, bronchiolite causes cough babies and difficult, fast and wheezing breathing. Most of the benign time, however, it may require a transition to emergencies, or even hospitalization. During the week of October 18, 3,342 children under 2 years old were seen at the emergency room for bronchiolitis, one-third (1,138) were then hospitalized. In both cases, nine out of ten had less than a year. Two weeks ago, there was only 1,779 passages in the emergency room of children under 2 for bronchiolite, and 643 hospitalizations.
The last winter, confines and barrier gestures as part of the CVIV-19 epidemic also blocked other viruses, including syncytial respiratory virus, responsible for bronchiolitis. Children have been less infected than usual and are therefore less immunized, which gives fear a stronger epidemic this year.
Importance of barrier gestures
This phenomenon could also concern other winter viruses, including those of influenza or gastroenteritis. The health authorities have launched Tuesday a campaign to recall the importance of barrier gestures (being hidden, aerate, wash your hands, coughing in his elbow, avoid kisses and hand hands …), then “than a feeling of weariness tends to generalize “.
The influenza epidemic has not started in France yet, where the risky vaccination campaign started on October 18th. For the time being, France public is only “sporadic cases of influenza since the beginning of September”. But the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control warned Tuesday that “the coming seasonal influenza epidemic could be severe for older”.