Epidemiological Situation

Every year, an outbreak of bronchiolitis is observed in emergency departments during the southern hemisphere summer. The 2016–2017 season was marked by a late start to the bronchiolitis epidemic (week 6). The epidemic peaked in week 10. Over the past two weeks, emergency department activity for bronchiolitis has decreased significantly but remained above the epidemic threshold. The outbreak appears to be in its downward phase. In total, since the start of the outbreak, 570 visits for bronchiolitis among children under 2 years of age have been recorded, and 57% of them were hospitalized for this condition. In this epidemic context, it is important to remind the public of appropriate preventive measures.