Ten other regions are considered in a pre-epidemic phase, health authorities explained on Wednesday.
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Be careful if you are the parent of an infant. An epidemic of bronchiolitis, a respiratory disease that affects babies and can sometimes lead them to hospital, is now underway, rather early, in four French regions and appears on the horizon in ten others, authorities announced on Wednesday October 12. sanitary.
The last few days have shown a “continuation of the increase in surveillance indicators for bronchiolitis in children under 2 years of age”, according to a weekly report from the French public health agency. The Hauts-de-France, Ile-de-France, New Aquitaine and Occitanie regions have entered the epidemic stage.
Ten other regions (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Bretagne, 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. Common and highly contagious, bronchiolitis causes babies to cough and have difficult, rapid, wheezy breathing. Even if it is distressing for young parents, it is most of the time benign. But it may require a trip to the emergency room, or even hospitalization.
In total, 2,058 children under the age of 2 went to the emergency room for bronchiolitis in the week of October 3 to 9, a clear increase compared to the previous week. Nearly 660 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.