What are the preventive measures against bronchiolitis in newborns?

Come on, here we are. The beautiful season of bronchiolitis officially began a few weeks ago, and should only calm down with the arrival of spring. So it’s not for now! But then, how can we ensure that little Jean-José gets through all this and doesn’t end up in the emergency room?

If your child is not lucky enough to be able to benefit from the new treatment against RSV, available since September but currently in insufficient numbers, try following the following protocol, it may help you.

Bronchiolitis, what is it?

Bronchiolitis is a very common respiratory virus (RSV), affecting 30% of children under the age of two in France every year. It is therefore a very contagious viral infection that affects the bronchioles, i.e. the small bronchi.

Coughing and rapid wheezing are the main symptoms and can be very painful, but Bronchiolitis most often remains a benign disease.

That is, as the Ministry of Health indicates, that ” Adults and older children who carry RSV usually have no signs or a simple cold.. ” This is It’s bad for the little onesunfortunately, and it is with them that we must be particularly traffic warden.

If your child is cared for in a community, in a nursery or by a carer with several children, unfortunately there is little chance that he will be able to overcome the difficulties. But if he is very small and kept at home, he is fine a few small gestures that can avoid many hassles.

What are the symptoms of bronchiolitis?

Bronchiolitis usually begins with a cold or nasopharyngitis with a mild fever. Then a dry cough appears. Then it comes to “respiratory discomfort that results in rapid, wheezing breathing (loud during exhalation) “.

How to avoid bronchiolitis?

First of all there are two things to know about bronchiolitis: it is transmitted through saliva, coughing and sneezingand the virus can stay on your hands and objects for a while. Once we know this, what do we do to ensure that the last born is spared? There are not 36 solutions, you have to do it yourself Attention :

• Must to wash hands with soap and water correctly (or with hydroalcoholic gel) before and after touching the newborn, to change him, breastfeed him, breastfeed, etc.
• Must ventilate the rooms from the house several times a day, especially from those where he sleeps
• Avoid crowded placessuch as public transport, restaurants, bars, shopping centres
• Don’t share pacifiers and duvets
• Wash these regularly
• He only rejects the sickeven if they simply have a cold, I arrive home to meet the heir
• Even more so if the newborn is less than 3 months old, Let’s avoid passing from arm to armthe kisses that stick and leave many microbes on the skin of the little roast
• We don’t smoke near the child or his things
• If it is you, the parent or co-parent, who has a cold, wear a mask when you take care of the baby, and sneeze into your elbow neatly without taking it everywhere. Also avoid kissing him if you have gout on your nose.

If, despite all these efforts, your baby has a runny nose, he starts coughing and you need it consult a doctordo not hesitate to call in advance, so as not to find yourself stuck in the waiting room with a possibly infected child who could contaminate others.

Also, if your baby is perfectly well, but you need a consultation for his first vaccinations, for example, try to make the first appointment tomorrow morningto avoid sharing places with the microbes of other dear little ones.

How to cure bronchiolitis?

Well, bad luck, your son got bronchiolitis, that’s it, it’s official. Here you are some suggestions to prevent it from getting worse and not to forget, at the slightest sign of difficulty breathing or bad wheezing, to call your doctor, Samu or an emergencythese three prongs will tell you what to do and whether you need to go to hospital or not.

In the meantime, to make this happen, you can:

• He wash your nose with physiological serum
• Keep it straight as much as possible to help him breathe during the day and get out of bed at night
• He offer drinks regularly so that it doesn’t dehydrate
• Do not hesitate to split meals if you have difficulty eating
• If he has a fever and does not have a cold you can, after checking with your doctor, give him some paracetamol.

Arm yourself with patience, bronchiolitis can last about ten daysand the cough may persist slightly for four weeks.

Finish, here are the signs that should worry you in case of bronchiolitis, and encourage you to call the Samu regulatory bodies so that they can direct you to the nearest emergency room:

• Your Child it seems amorphous and no longer interacts with youeven when you tickle him
• He is very pale and has bluish lips
• He has difficult breathinghis stomach tightens and his breathing is very rapid
• Eat lessor not at all, i.e. less than half of what you usually eat per day.

If your child also has a pathology such as cystic fibrosis, dysplasia or heart disease, do not hesitate and go to the emergency room.

And if you need read some interesting tips (and with humor) about bronchiolitis and all other childhood diseases, we recommend you take a look To be or not Toubib (aka @NightHaunter ON

We also received it in our program l’Apéro des Daronnes, where we talked about fake medicines and childhood diseases.

Good luck to everyone, we’ll see each other again in spring, when there will be no more bronchiolitis, colds, gastro, flu and Covid (we believe it).

Listen to Apéro des Daronnes, Madmoizelle’s show that aims to break down taboos on parenting.