only 46% of babies born between February and August receive preventive care, the French Pediatric Society warns

A spokesperson for the French Pediatric Society lamented “insufficient” coverage for these newborns, who have not yet benefited from the hospital care campaign.

While Île-de-France has entered the bronchiolitis epidemic phase, and Normandy is in the “pre-epidemic” phase, the French Society of Pediatrics launched an appeal, Monday, November 10, to France Inter to protect children born between last February and August. Only 46% of these babies have been immunized this year “until now there is not enough in the city (city medicine)”warned the spokesperson for the French Pediatric Society, Christèle Gras-Le Guen, into the France Inter microphone.

In the delivery room, from September 1, babies can be immunized from birth thanks to Beyfortus (nirsevimab), an injectable synthetic antibody developed by AstraZeneca and marketed by Sanofi. However, for children born between February 1 and August 31, when there is no bronchiolitis, the baby does not receive hospital treatment.

It is these children, less than one year old, who are particularly concerned by the appeal of the French Pediatric Society. “The pediatrician prescribed without any conditions” Beyfortus, but “This does not happen to our GP colleagues”underlines Christèle Gras-Le Guen. “There’s still time” to do this, said pediatricians at Nantes University Hospital, to ensure that these children can benefit from continued immunization in the city.

For two years, pediatricians can count on an immunization campaign that works very well and prevents many forms of serious disease, based on two different treatments: vaccination of pregnant women or immunization of babies with Beyfortus from Sanofi and AstraZeneca. Christèle Gras-Le Guen assures that this treatment has been proven: “The principle of these antibodies is that they are immediately effective.” “This is the beginning of the circulation of the virus” that we should benefit from this preventative treatment, he explained. Therefore, parents should take steps to go to a general practitioner or pediatrician to get prescribed treatment for bronchiolitis.

Generally benign, bronchiolitis can cause serious complications that require hospitalization. The disease remains the leading cause of hospitalization in infants under one year old. However, the advent of preventive care in recent years has contributed to avoiding thousands of hospitalizations over the past two winter seasons.