Four French regions are already affected by the return of bronchiolitis, a viral respiratory infection that affects the youngest every year.
BRONCHIOLITIS – Bronchiolitis is back, and earlier than some years. The epidemic is already underway in four French regions, and it should appear soon in ten others, according to the weekly report from the French public health agency published on Wednesday October 12.
The latter found a “continued increase in surveillance indicators of bronchiolitis in children under 2 years of age”. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Brittany, Centre-Val de Loire, Grand-Est, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, Pays de la Loire and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur are considered in a preliminary phase.
Bronchiolitis is a viral respiratory infection that affects the small bronchi. It is characterized by respiratory discomfort, the signs of which are a cough and wheezing and rapid breathing, according to the definitions of the bronchiolitis network Île-de-France and the Health Insurance. It is generally mild, but still affects 30% of children aged 1 month to 2 years each year.
Breathing faster than usual
Given the number of emergency visits on the rise, how can you recognize the warning signs of this disease? How to distinguish it from a cold, nasopharyngitis or a simple cough?
“Little by little, a dry cough appears. Then comes respiratory discomfort that results in rapid, wheezing breathing. At this stage of the disease, the child may have difficulty feeding.can we read on the Social Security website.
The French Association of Ambulatory Pediatrics (AFPA) lists on its website mpedia the following signs:
“Monitoring your baby is very important,” notes the AFPA. It should however be noted that, this year, “the pediatric emergencies are already saturated”, warns Christèle Gras Le Guen, president of the French Society of Pediatrics, contacted by 20 minutes. “Given the saturation of emergencies, families must only come when medically indicated or for babies under 3 months old”she continues.
And if you have to stop working to take care of your sick child, you can benefit from dedicated days off.
Early epidemic
The number of hospitalizations is thus higher than what is usually observed at the beginning of October, confirming the scenario of an earlier epidemic for the second year in a row.
Normally, the bronchiolitis epidemic follows the same seasonal pattern from one year to the next: it starts between the end of October and mid-November, reaches a peak in December, ends at the end of January or even the end of February.
But this temporality has been affected since the Covid, in many countries.
The 2020-2021 epidemic was much later, with a start in mid-February 2021, and had a lesser impact than usual.
Conversely, the 2021-2022 epidemic was earlier, in a context of the end of the confinements linked to the start of Covid: it started at the beginning of October and had a greater impact on the whole season than ordinary.
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