Paediatricians are sounding the alarm in Luxembourg over a bronchitis epidemic that is unfolding early, compared to previous years.
Though not unexpected, the wave of infections appears to have arrived earlier than is usually the case. Beds in the children’s hospital are filling up quickly and some patients are even in need of intensive care.
Bronchitis is an infectious disease that affects the respiratory system and is dangerous for children below the age of two in particular. According to paediatrician Dr Isabel de la Fuente, infectious disease expert at the CHL, the reason for the wave of infections is caused by the RS virus, which has been making rounds in the Grand Duchy in the past ten days.
Dr De La Fuente explained: “As of [27 October] we have 11 children with bronchitis -RSV hospitalised at the children’s hospital. Three of these children are in intensive care because they need it and also five children who … still have respiratory support through a machine called Optiflow. So we can see that this is a dangerous virus and that we are already very busy with it. We don’t know how it will evolve in the next few weeks. We probably haven’t reached the peak yet, so it should continue to increase. And indeed we are a bit worried about the fact that it has happened so quickly in terms of the increase in the number of cases.”
The virus is highly contagious among children, further warned Dr De La Fuente.
Edisa Zahitovic, mother of three, was shocked to see how quickly things turned from bad to worse for her three-month-old baby, who eventually had to be hospitalised after being infected: “We went to the doctor on Friday since he started getting a fever on Thursday. The physician gave us saltwater to help clean nose and throat. He developed mucus by Saturday and by Sunday, we decided to seek out the doctor again. It all came in the span of just 24 hours. When we arrived at the hospital on Monday, he was barely able to breathe, but luckily, he received oxygen right away and got better.”
Dr De La Fuente underlined the importance of taking precautions in due time: “First, it is extremely important to regularly wash the hands of siblings, particularly those of older brothers and sisters who are in the nursery. Second, reducing contacts by avoiding places full of people with large groups. Closed places with lots of nursery-aged children should also be avoided.” Contact between babies and people suffering from a cold is also to be avoided.
It is not a new disease, but there is still no vaccine against it. Every year, about 200 babies are treated against bronchitis in Luxembourg.