A new preventive treatment available for bronchiolitis

This new preventive treatment protects babies from the main virus that causes bronchiolitis. It is given as a single dose injection, ideally into the child’s thigh. Its protective effect is almost immediate and lasts for at least five months, i.e. throughout the epidemic season. It usually starts in early October, peaks in December and ends in January or even late February.

As part of the national bronchiolitis immunization campaign, the new treatment is intended for:

• all newborns, who can be given the injection before they are discharged from the maternity ward;

• infants born since 6 february 2023, because they were not exposed to respiratory syncytial virus (the main cause of bronchiolitis) in the previous outbreak season, and are therefore not yet protected against it. In such cases, the parents will need to obtain a medical prescription from a doctor or midwife. They will then have to place an order at a pharmacy or health facility, and the treatment will be delivered free of charge to them at no extra cost.

Treatment may be given by a doctor, nurse, or midwife.

What are the right things to do?

The Ministry of Health has also indicated several measures to protect babies from contamination:

• wash your hands before and after each change, feeding or hugging;
• regularly ventilate the entire dwelling;
• wear a mask if you have a cold, cough, or fever;
• avoid taking children to confined public spaces;
• not sharing bottles, soothers, or unwashed cutlery;
• do not smoke next to babies and children.

Bronchiolitis is most often a mild illness, but its symptoms are striking. It usually begins with a common cold or nasopharyngitis with a mild fever. Gradually, a dry cough appears; then a breathing discomfort occurs which results in rapid and wheezing breathing. At this stage of the disease, children may have difficulty eating and sleeping. Symptoms subside within a few days, and the child resolves in 8 to 10 days, but a residual cough may persist for up to a fortnight before resolving.

The first two days of illness require particularly close supervision in infants.

How is the disease transmitted?

Bronchiolitis, which is highly contagious, is transmitted in two ways:

• directly from person to person, because of sneezing, squabbling, coughing, or kissing;

• indirectly, by means of hands or objects soiled by saliva (toys, towels, bottles...)

Adults and older children who have respiratory syncytial virus, which causes bronchiolitis, usually have no signs or have only a cold. This makes many people unknowingly carriers of the virus and contagious.