This winter, France was affected by a triple epidemic: Covid-19, influenza and bronchiolitis. The latter is responsible for 40% of hospitalizations during the winter. Faced with this, the French health company Sanofi has developed a vaccine that could prevent 80% of these hospitalizations. Its president gives all the details in the program “La France moves”.
Where are we after the electroshock of Covid-19? Emmanuel Macron has made the repatriation of drug production a priority. Three years later, shortages in pharmacies were noted this winter with the triple epidemic that France experienced. Covid, flu and bronchiolitis did not mix well in France during the winter season. This generated a peak in demand of more than 40%. However, concerning bronchiolitis, where nine out of ten children are infected before the age of 2, encouraging results have been announced.
Sanofi, the innovative French global health company, has developed a preventive treatment against bronchiolitis, linked to the RSV virus. This one is already authorized and approved by the European authorities but it is still not marketed. For the occasion, Audrey Derveloy, president of Sanofi, was the guest of France moves on Europe 1. At the microphone of Elisabeth Assayag, she returns to this vaccine and presents its details and characteristics.
80% of hospitalizations avoided
“Bronchiolitis is common and it’s serious”, first alerts the president of Sanofi. One in three children who arrive in the emergency room is hospitalized and this causes hospitals to become saturated. “More than 40% of pediatric beds in hospitals in the winter are occupied by bronchiolitis,” she points out. Faced with this, the vaccine against this disease, developed by Sanofi, could prevent 80% of hospitalizations. “These are the data from the Harmonie study which was presented last week, carried out on more than 8,000 children, including 2,000 in France, and which show that we would have a real solution to desaturate hospitals from next winter. C It’s a real clinical breakthrough”, rejoices Audrey Derveloy who hopes to make the vaccine available for the next winter season.
But then, why wait? “We have to do things correctly. So there is a regulatory framework, we follow it and we also have discussions, hand in hand, with the authorities. It is a job that must be done in co-construction. Then, the learned societies are also really stakeholders in these decisions, since it is the doctors who will be able to explain to the parents the interest of this treatment”, she explains. On the other hand, for her, “it is not acceptable that bronchiolitis is responsible for 40% of hospitalizations in winter when we have a solution that can avoid that”. “So it’s our responsibility to get ready for the epidemic,” says the leader.
“A gesture to cover an epidemic season”
So how will this vaccination campaign unfold? “Teams will work to inform paediatricians, in collaboration with learned societies. The details of the framework have yet to be finalized, but the idea is that infants under the age of 1 can benefit from and be covered for this epidemic” , specifies the president of Sanofi. Regarding the intake, this represents an injection of an antibody, which means that there is immediate protection and that the child is covered during the season. “A preventive treatment, a gesture to cover an epidemic season”, assures Audrey Derveloy.
The president of Sanofi really hopes that all families and healthcare professionals can benefit from this technological innovation. “France must be the leader on this subject,” she said.
Source: Europe1
I’m a journalist who covers health care news. I’ve been working in the news industry for more than 6 years. I have experience writing for print, online, and television. My work has been published by various news websites and magazines.
