Do you want to vaccinate your child against tetanus? Do not be surprised if you cannot find the DTP vaccine (diphtheria, tetanus, polio) in pharmacies in Ile-de-France. For months, the vaccine in its simple form, that is to say containing these three doses, has not been available.
The reason of this shortage ? An increase in global demand for vaccines poorly controlled by pharmaceutical companies that produce just in time. Added to this, vaccine manufacturing times between 12 and 24 months. “Some countries, emerging or not, have changed their vaccination schedule by adding booster doses of pertussis vaccines at different ages,” recently recalled Philippe Juvin, pharmacist responsible for Sanofi Pasteur at the microphone of Slate.
The situation is not expected to return to normal until 2016, according to the Medicines Safety Agency.
This shortage situation annoys pharmacists and exasperates parents, forced to have their child vaccinated (the DT-Polio vaccine is compulsory) in order to be able to enroll them in nursery or school. They therefore find themselves composing as best they can. Some go to pharmacies in other regions of France, while others take advantage of vacations in other countries such as Switzerland or Spain to find the coveted vaccine.
In the absence of DT-Polio vaccine, health authorities recommend parents to turn to the Infanrix Hexa vaccine which protects against DTP and also against three other diseases including hepatitis B. Problem, this hexavalent vaccine is controversial and some parents refuse to vaccinate their children because of the aluminum and formaldehyde it is suspected of containing. To date, the petition from Dr Joyeux fueling mistrust around these vaccines has already collected more than 727,000 signatures.
>> To read also:How are the shortages of vaccines explained?
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