Clotilde Dumay with Laura Laplaud
The bronchiolitis epidemic that has raged in the area since the beginning of October continues to spread and leads to the saturation of the pediatric intensive care units of some hospitals. While some patients are transferred to other facilities, the parents themselves travel to other regions to get counseling.
On October 22, a collective of 7,000 pediatric health workers sounded an alarm in an open letter to Emmanuel Macron, denouncing the saturation of pediatric emergencies as a bronchiolitis epidemic was sweeping France. In response, the Minister of Health, François Braun, announced the implementation of an “immediate action plan” and the release of 150 million euros for “live hospital services”. But two weeks later, pediatric wards are still small and unable to cope with the growing epidemic.
“We didn’t have to take care of the little ones in Nice”
Some hospitals find themselves obliged to transfer patients to other facilities. For their part, some parents go to other regions themselves to try to get counseling for their child. This is the case in the south of the country, where some families go to Munich. “It is necessary that at the departmental level there is a very rapid reflection to try to find solutions for everyone”, assures Dr. Hervé Haas, head of the pediatric service of the Princess Grace Hospital Center.
“We have agreements with France to take care of the French who are in the neighboring crown, but we did not have to take care of the children of Nice, of the Nice hinterland, or even of Grasse”, explains the doctor on the microphone of Europe 1. The situation may continue to get worse, 28 children have already been transferred from Île-de-France to intensive care units in other regions.
“We risk finding ourselves in the same situation as our neighbors in France”
“Unfortunately we see more and more that parents are willing to drive miles to come to Munich. There is an increase of between 35 and 40% in one year of activity, which is still important,” he says. “On weekends, when there is only one doctor who sees 30 or 40 children in the emergency room, it becomes difficult. So we cannot afford to say that we will increase the activity … We risk finding ourselves in the same situation as our neighbors in France. ”, He complains.
