Bronchiolitis: eight new regions of France affected by the epidemic

Europe 1 with AFP 11:49 a.m., October 20, 2022

Red alert in France.

The epidemic of bronchiolitis, a respiratory disease that affects babies and sometimes leads them to hospital, has now spread to almost all of metropolitan France.

The last few days have been marked by "a transition to the epidemic phase in eight new regions", summarizes Public Health France in a weekly report.

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Burgundy-Franche-Comté, Brittany, Centre-Val de Loire, Grand Est, Normandy, Pays de la Loire and Guyana are concerned.

It is therefore now almost all the regions of mainland France which are affected, apart from PACA, already in the pre-epidemic phase, and Corsica, for the time being spared.

Overseas, only Guyana is affected by the epidemic, but Mayotte, Guadeloupe and Martinique are in the pre-epidemic phase.

Common and highly contagious, bronchiolitis causes babies to cough and have difficult, rapid, wheezy breathing.

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Nearly a thousand children hospitalized in one week

Even if it is distressing for young parents, it is most of the time benign.

In some cases, it may require a visit to the emergency room, or even hospitalization.

A total of 2,959 children under the age of two went to the emergency room for bronchiolitis in the week of October 10 to 16, a jump of almost half compared to the previous week.

Nearly a thousand were eventually hospitalized.

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.

Public Health France had warned, Friday, October 14, that an "impact on pediatric services" was to be expected.

A speech relayed on the ground by many caregivers.