Measles continues to wreak havoc: between January and May 2019, 950 cases were recorded in France and 1 in 3 patients had to be hospitalized for complications – pneumonia, encephalitis …
At issue: insufficient vaccination coverage (in France, it is currently estimated at 79%, i.e. well below the threshold recommended by the WHO, set at 95%), notably linked to significant skepticism vis-à-vis vaccines (1 in 3 French people think that vaccines are dangerous, according to an American study published in June 2019).
In France, the measles vaccine has been compulsory since January 2018
Since January 2018, in France, vaccination against measles is nevertheless compulsory for children – with a dose at the age of 12 months and a dose between 16 and 18 months. And Germany is preparing to follow the French example: vaccination against measles will become compulsory in German schools from March 2020.
Proposed by the Minister of Health Jens Spahn, this measure will concern school children but also children in nurseries, teachers, educators, as well as the staff of refugee reception centers.
This decision follows in particular alarming figures published by the WHO on Monday, July 15, 2019: in 2018, 350,000 cases of measles were reported worldwide, i.e. twice as many as in 2017.
Read also :
First measles death for 2019
Occitanie: measles responsible for 84 hospitalizations since the start of the year
In Réunion, two unvaccinated doctors transmit measles
