“It is a great hope to finally see fewer sick children”declared this Friday, September 16 on franceinfo Christèle Gras-Le Guen, head of the pediatrics department at the Nantes University Hospital and president of the French Society of Pediatrics, while the French laboratory Sanofi obtained the green light from the European Agency for drug for a vaccine to prevent bronchiolitis in newborns. “This product will be tested this winter in a number of maternity hospitals” in France, she explains. Each year, 500,000 French babies are infected with the virus. This vaccine is not only good news for babies, but it is also “a victory for public health”according to a health economist.
franceinfo: How do you welcome this news?
Christèle Gras-Le Guen, President of the French Pediatric Society: With great great hope to finally see fewer sick children during the winter. It is also a hope to see the constraints of their parents and pediatric services which are always saturated, each winter, by this damn disease decrease. It should be noted that the youngest, and in particular those under six weeks old, can have serious forms of bronchiolitis. They are the ones who are admitted to intensive care and critical care services during the winter, and being able to protect them as a priority is obviously what we want to be able to do with this new product. This antibody will be offered almost at the maternity ward, to all families who wish it, so as to protect the child as soon as possible, since we know that it is the youngest who are at risk of serious forms. This product will be tested this winter in a number of maternities so that, after these tests, we can quickly recommend it to families.
Is it possible to go, like other vaccines, to a form of obligation?
The obligation for other vaccines is linked to vaccine hesitation, when the parents are not really convinced by the interest of the product. There, I think that in terms of bronchiolitis, the weight of the disease is so major and the impact on the health of children and on the life of families is so major that I do not think there is a need for obligation. All French families know the burden of bronchiolitis and, I think, will be quite in favor of protecting their little ones from this scourge since it really is a scourge.
Why will this medicine only be available for children under one year old?
This is where this virus has the greatest impact on children’s health and, exceptionally, after one year, children are hospitalized or severely embarrassed by this virus. It’s really the first few weeks that are crucial. As such, beyond a year, there is no longer any interest in the same way.