Bronchiolitis: epidemic accelerates, ten metropolitan regions affected

The annual epidemic of bronchiolitis is gaining momentum. After accelerating in recent days, the respiratory infection, which mainly affects infants, has now spread to large parts of the French metropolis, the public health agency said on Wednesday. During the week ending November 5, “bronchiolitis-related activity in France increased significantly,” the French Public Health weekly report summarizes.

Four new regions (Hautes-de-France, Burgundy-Franche-Comté, New Aquitaine and Occitanie) are now in the epidemic phase, bringing the number of metropolitan areas in this situation to ten. Of the remaining three, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur are in the pre-epidemic phase. Only Corsica is still alive. Overseas, the epidemic continues to affect Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyana.

Bronchiolitis, caused primarily by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), causes difficulty breathing in infants. It is usually not serious, but can still lead to an emergency room visit and hospitalization. Last year it sparked an epidemic unprecedented in a decade, leaving tens of thousands of babies in hospital.

The epidemic is now smaller than at the same time in 2022, but some indicators – consultations with private doctors, emergency department visits – accelerated last week and returned to already high 2021 levels. One of the big questions concerns the effect of Sanofi’s new prophylactic drug, Beifortus. It was initially offered to all babies born after February, but is currently being reserved for maternity hospitals pending new supplies.

French public health also assessed two other diseases: Covid, which is in decline, and seasonal influenza, which is still limited to a few sporadic cases on the French mainland in anticipation of the inevitable annual epidemic. Only the island of Reunion and now Mayotte, which are in a special situation because they are subject to reverse climatic influences in the Southern Hemisphere, are already in the epidemic phase.