Key Points

In the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region: indicators are declining, though levels remain higher than expected for this time of year.

The bronchiolitis outbreak observed this year is quite unusual, with a late onset in March 2021 and a small-scale outbreak. Since late April, indicators had returned to low to moderate levels but remained higher than those typically observed during the post-epidemic phase. An increase in indicators was again observed in week 25 of 2021 (June 21–26), with increased activity for bronchiolitis in emergency departments and a resurgence in the number of RSV cases detected by laboratories.

In week 30 of 2021 (July 26–August 1), indicators tended to decline in the region:

• 24 SOS Médecins consultations were recorded, representing 3.7% of activity among children under 2 years of age (compared to 5.3% in week 28);

• 67 emergency department visits were recorded, representing 4.9% of activity among children under 2 years of age (compared to 10.1% in week 28), of which 34 were followed by hospitalization, representing 50.7% of bronchiolitis cases (compared to 55.5% in week 27);

• Nearly 15% of hospitalizations among children under 2 years of age were for bronchiolitis (down since week 28);

• The number of positive RSV test results remained high among samples tested by the virology laboratories at the region’s university hospitals.