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Beyfortus administered to newborns helps prevent serious forms of bronchiolitis. Pediatricians and pharmacies are facing shortages of the drug.
The new treatment for severe forms of bronchiolitis, Beyfortus, is not available for all infants. A two-month-old child was able to benefit from it because his parents ordered it three weeks earlier from a pharmacy. Treatment is in short supply. “We gave a lot of hope to parents (…) We find ourselves in a situation where we have to explain to them that their children are not going to have a dose, because there is not enough”explains Dr Jean-François Delobbe, pediatrician, national union of French pediatricians.
Treatment given priority to maternity wards
The State had not anticipated such a demand and ordered 200,000 doses of Beyfortus, delivered as a priority to maternity hospitals. Pharmacies can no longer receive them. “We were able to order some until September 25”, indicates Christelle Quermel, president of the Hérault pharmacists’ union. The Ministry of Health wants to obtain additional doses from laboratories.