Headlines - Start of the bronchiolitis season

The fall season is typically marked by the start of the bronchiolitis epidemic season among infants in mainland France. In France, bronchiolitis surveillance is based on data collected from hospital emergency departments and SOS Médecins associations participating in the Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS) health surveillance system for emergencies and deaths (SurSaUD®). Bronchiolitis epidemics in infants generally begin in the fall, with the epidemic peak occurring during the month of December. However, there is usually a lag of a few weeks between northern and southern France, where the peak occurs later. Currently, both nationally and regionally, the epidemiological situation has shown, over the past few weeks, an initial increase in the number of visits to OSCOUR® network emergency departments and SOS Médecins associations for bronchiolitis, consistent with the start of the epidemic season. Bronchiolitis is the third most common diagnosis in emergency departments among children under 2 years of age, behind ENT infections and trauma. In emergency departments as well as at SOS Médecins, the numbers observed are consistent with those recorded last year during the same period and follow a comparable trend. At the regional level, the Cire produces a weekly analysis of SurSaUD® data for bronchiolitis, available in this Epidemiological Bulletin (PE), which allows for monitoring the regional trends of this indicator. A national update on bronchiolitis is available online on the InVS website and is updated weekly. This week, the bronchiolitis epidemic is beginning in Poitou-Charentes. The Cire team is available to provide any additional information.