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Background: Bronchiolitis is a major source of morbimortality among young children worldwide. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) implemented to reduce the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 may have had an important impact on bronchiolitis outbreaks, as well as major societal consequences. Discriminating between their respective impacts would help define optimal public health strategies against bronchiolitis. We aimed to assess the respective impact of each NPI on bronchiolitis outbreaks in 14 European countries., Methods: We conducted a quasi-experimental interrupted time-series analysis based on a multicentre international study. All children diagnosed with bronchiolitis presenting to the paediatric emergency department of one of 27 centres from January 2018 to March 2021 were included. We assessed the association between each NPI and change in the bronchiolitis trend over time by seasonally adjusted multivariable quasi-Poisson regression modelling., Results: In total, 42 916 children were included. We observed an overall cumulative 78% (95% CI -100- -54%; p<0.0001) reduction in bronchiolitis cases following NPI implementation. The decrease varied between countries from -97% (95% CI -100- -47%; p=0.0005) to -36% (95% CI -79-7%; p=0.105). Full lockdown (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.21 (95% CI 0.14-0.30); p<0.001), secondary school closure (IRR 0.33 (95% CI 0.20-0.52); p<0.0001), wearing a mask indoors (IRR 0.49 (95% CI 0.25-0.94); p=0.034) and teleworking (IRR 0.55 (95% CI 0.31-0.97); p=0.038) were independently associated with reducing bronchiolitis., Conclusions: Several NPIs were associated with a reduction of bronchiolitis outbreaks, including full lockdown, school closure, teleworking and facial masking. Some of these public health interventions may be considered to further reduce the global burden of bronchiolitis., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: N. Ouldali reports travel grants from Pfizer, GSK and Sanofi. No other authors have conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright ©The authors 2023. For reproduction rights and permissions contact permissions@ersnet.org.)

Context: Very few studies have evaluated the role of procalcitonin (PCT) in infants with bronchiolitis., Aims: To describe infants who had both a diagnosis of bronchiolitis at the emergency department and a blood test including PCT, and to compare the characteristics of children according to the PCT value., Methods: Infants admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Department between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2014 who had a diagnosis of bronchiolitis and a blood test including PCT were included. The clinical, biological, and radiological characteristics of the infants with PCT <1 or ≥1g/L were compared., Results: One hundred thirty six infants were included. Patients with high PCT (n=20) had a higher temperature (38.5°C, IQR=37.8-38.6 vs. 37.5°C, IQR=37.1-38.2; P<0.01), C-reactive protein (50mg/L, IQR=25-83 vs. 5mg/L, IQR=0-19; P<0.01), and neutrophils (7.8×10 9 /L, IQR=6.0-8.5 vs 4.5×10 9 /L, IQR=2.9-6.6; P<0.01) higher than patients with low PCT (n=116). Presence on the chest x-ray of alveolar condensation did not differ between the two PCT groups. Infants coming from the low-PCT group received fewer antibiotics (14.7% vs 65%; P<0.01)., Conclusion: In a Pediatric Emergency Department, PCT with a value of 1 or more cannot predict the presence of alveolar condensation on the chest x-ray. It seems to be associated with the antibiotics prescription, even if this could not be proved because of the design of the study., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier SAS.)

BACKGROUND Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of bronchiolitis, resulting in 3 million hospitalizations each year worldwide. Nirsevimab is a monoclonal antibody against RSV that has an extended half-life. Its postlicensure real-world effectiveness against RSV-associated bronchiolitis is unclear. METHODS We conducted a prospective, multicenter, matched case-control study to analyze the effectiveness of nirsevimab therapy against hospitalization for RSV-associated bronchiolitis in infants younger than 12 months of age. Case patients were infants younger than 12 months of age who were hospitalized for RSV-associated bronchiolitis between October 15 and December 10, 2023. Control patients were infants with clinical visits to the same hospitals for conditions unrelated to RSV infection. Case patients were matched to control patients in a 2:1 ratio on the basis of age, date of hospital visit, and study center. We calculated the effectiveness of nirsevimab therapy against hospitalization for RSV-associated bronchiolitis (primary outcome) by means of a multivariate conditional logistic-regression model with adjustment for confounders. Several sensitivity analyses were performed. RESULTS The study included 1035 infants, of whom 690 were case patients (median age, 3.1 months; interquartile range, 1.8 to 5.3) and 345 were matched control patients (median age, 3.4 months; interquartile range, 1.6 to 5.6). Overall, 60 case patients (8.7%) and 97 control patients (28.1%) had received nirsevimab previously. The estimated adjusted effectiveness of nirsevimab therapy against hospitalization for RSV-associated bronchiolitis was 83.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 73.4 to 89.2). Sensitivity analyses gave results similar to those of the primary analysis. The effectiveness of nirsevimab therapy against RSV-associated bronchiolitis resulting in critical care was 69.6% (95% CI, 42.9 to 83.8) (27 of 193 case patients [14.0%] vs. 47 of 146 matched control patients [32.2%]) and against RSV-associated bronchiolitis resulting in ventilatory support was 67.2% (95% CI, 38.6 to 82.5) (27 of 189 case patients [14.3%] vs. 46 of 151 matched control patients [30.5%]). CONCLUSIONS In a real-world setting, nirsevimab therapy was effective in reducing the risk of hospitalized RSV-associated bronchiolitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]