‘Days end much later’ but ‘we guess’: Liberal pediatrician near Paris Christophe Batard has added slots to an already busy agenda to deal with the bronchiolitis epidemic and prevent the emergency room from being ‘clogged’ with babies.
This weekend, a couple of pensioners came to show Dr. Batar their granddaughter Eleonora, who is 14 months old. “She has been coughing badly since yesterday, mom would like to rule out the history of bronchiolitis,” the grandmother begins, undressing the child.
“The history of bronchiolitis…” the 52-year-old doctor sums up with surprise, as if to clarify the concerns expressed by many parents who came to him for a consultation in his office in Vincennes. Because if this disease is usually mild, in babies it can be serious.
“I already watch how she breathes, and I see that she is not suffering,” the pediatrician reassures. He asks if the child is eating well, which is the second “encouraging criterion”. Then an in-depth auscultation is carried out and the diagnosis: “nasopharyngitis has barely descended to the lungs.”
“What shall we give him?” the grandmother asks, trying to calm the baby’s crying. “We give him a lot of love!” - smiles the pediatrician … while emphasizing that you will need to “feel free to call back. If something goes wrong, I will arrive by Saturday or Sunday evening.”
Dr. Batara’s weeks seem like an endless day, Monday through Sunday, with “nearly 100 hours” a week. In addition to the usual appointments, there was a cohort of “unscheduled” consultations, often for suspected bronchiolitis, for which the pediatrician reserves places in the late morning or evening “until more time.”
- “Very strong intensity” -
“We try not to confuse children who come in for pediatric observation and those who are sick so as not to infect the most vulnerable,” explains the doctor, who is assisted by an intern and a medical secretary. “We accept everyone. Days end much later, but we know that this is an epidemic period, and we assume.”
He cannot go on strike, as did some of his liberal colleagues on Thursday and Friday, especially general practitioners, demanding better working conditions and higher consultation fees. “Given the context, this would be very inappropriate,” comments Dr. Battard.
“Context” is an early and especially acute epidemic. “Before Covid, we had normalized periods of bronchiolitis that ranged from Beaujolais Nouveau to Epiphany,” the specialist concludes. This year, like last year, the outbreak started earlier. And it has a “very strong intensity,” the French public health agency repeated on Friday.
Dr. Battard has high hopes for the monoclonal antibodies developed by several major laboratories against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes bronchiolitis.
He himself takes part in the study of one of these vaccines. “I included an infant who had bronchiolitis + well affected + and his twin didn’t even have a runny nose.” He has been vaccinated.
Six-month-old Zhanna was given an injection two weeks ago. In recent weeks, she has been exposed to various viruses, but has not suffered from any serious form. “I hope that this vaccine will exist and be able to benefit all babies,” says her mother, Claire, 35, who waits with her baby on wooden benches in the waiting room without much concern.
But “for now, you have to start from the present,” made of “overloaded” pediatric emergency and resuscitation, strikes the pediatrician. Which multiplies prevention messages — wear a mask, ventilate rooms, avoid public places with an infant… — to limit infection.