Infantile bronchiolitis: causes, symptoms… What are the preventive measures?

Come on, here we go. The good period of bronchiolitis has officially started for several weeks, and should only subside with the arrival of spring. So it’s not for now! But all of a sudden, how do we make sure little Jean-José gets through and doesn’t end up in the emergency room? We follow a fairly simple protocol, you’ll see.

Bronchiolitis, what is it?

Bronchiolitis is a very common respiratory virus (RSV), which affects 30% of children under the age of two in France each 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 off-putting, but bronchiolitis most often remains a benign disease.

That is to say, as indicated by the Ministry of Health, that ” Adults and older children who are carriers of RSV usually have no signs or just a cold. ” This is for the little ones he pampersunfortunately, and it is with them that you have to be especially traffic warden.

If your child is being cared for in a community setting, daycare or with a carer who has several children, there is unfortunately little chance that they will get the drops. But if he’s very small and kept at home, he’s there a few small gestures that can avoid many annoyances.

What are the symptoms of bronchiolitis?

Bronchiolitis usually begins with a cold or nasopharyngitis with a low-grade fever. Then a dry cough appears. Then comes a “respiratory discomfort resulting in rapid wheezing (noisy breathing on exhalation) “.

How to avoid bronchiolitis?

Yeah, there are two things to know about bronchiolitis: It’s transmitted by saliva, cough and sneezeand the virus can stay a little on hands and objects. Once we know, what do we do so that the last born is spared? There are no 36 solutions, you have to do Warning :

• Need to wash hands appropriately with soap and water (or with hydroalcoholic gel) before and after touching the newborn, to change, eat, breastfeed, etc.
• Need ventilate the rooms from the house several times a day, especially from those where he sleeps
• Avoid crowded placessuch as public transport, restaurants, cafes, shopping malls
• Don’t share pacifiers and comforters
• To wash these regularly
• Reject those sick peopleeven if they just have a cold, I arrive home meet the heir
• Even more so if the newborn is less than 3 months old, we avoid the passage from one arm to anotherthe kisses that stick and leave many microbes on the skin of the small roast
• We don’t smoke near the child or his belongings
• If you, the parent or co-parent, have a cold, wear a mask when you take care of the baby, e sneeze into elbow cleanly without putting it everywhere. Also avoid kissing her if you have gout in your nose.

If, despite all these efforts, your baby has a runny nose, he starts coughing and you need to consult a doctordo not hesitate to call him in advance, so as not to remain in the waiting room with a potentially infected child who could infect others.

Also, if your baby is perfectly fine, but you need to consult for example his first vaccines, try to make the first appointment in the morningto avoid sharing seats with the microbes of other dear blond heads.

How to cure bronchiolitis?

Well, it’s bad luck, your son has bronchiolitis, that’s it, it’s official. Here you are some suggestions to prevent it from getting too bad and don’t forget, at the slightest sign of difficulty breathing or bad wheezing, you call your doctor, Samu or the emergency roomthese three prongs will tell you what to do and whether or not you should go to the hospital.

In the meantime, for it to pass, you can:

• He wash your nose with saline solution
• Keep it as straight as possible to help him breathe during the day and get his bed up at night
• He offer to drink regularly so you don’t get dehydrated
• Do not hesitate to divided meals if you have difficulty feeding
• If he has a fever and doesn’t have a potato, you can, after validation with your doctor, give it to him paracetamol

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

Finish, here are the signs that should worry you if you have bronchiolitis, and we encourage you to give Samu’s regulators a call so they can refer you to the nearest emergency department:

• your baby you it looks amorphous and no longer interacts with youeven when you tickle him
• he is very pale and has bluish lips
• He has difficult breathingit tugs at his belly and his breathing is very fast
• Eat lessor not at all, i.e. less than half of what he usually eats per day

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

And if you need read interesting tips (and with humor) on bronchiolitis and all other childhood diseases, we recommend that you take a look at home @NightHauntera pediatric emergency physician who published the brilliant “Emergencies or no emergencies – Pediatric Survival Manual”, a gold mine for all parents.

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

Photo credit image of one: Joaquín Corbalán