The first expertises in the Meningitec vaccine business took place in mid-January in Auvergne. Several batches of this product were withdrawn from the market in 2014.
The complaint of 240 families against the CSP laboratory, French distributor of the Meningitec vaccine (1), was examined on Tuesday, November 24, 2015 by the Tribunal de Grande Instance (TGI) of Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme). The cause is the occurrence of serious symptoms (high fevers, restlessness, irritability, skin rashes, digestive disorders, continuous diarrhea, etc.) in children following vaccination with defective batches (loaded with heavy metals) of Meningitec , between April and December 2014.
Ordered by the same court, France Bleu Pays d’Auvergne reported on Monday that the first medical assessments on children began in mid-January, in Clermont-Ferrand. There are 80 cases to be examined in the territory of the former Auvergne region alone. These come six months after the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) delivered its own additional analyzes on this meningococcal type C vaccine.
After two years of controversy, the Agency concluded that “the Meningitec vaccine does not present any risk for children”. “In-depth analyzes confirmed the presence of metallic traces in this health product. But they are extremely low and remain within European standards, ”she added.
No general reaction
As a reminder, it was in September 2014 that all batches of Meningitec disappeared from French and European pharmacies. On that date, a check indeed revealed the presence of oxidized metal particles in the plunger of certain syringes. As a precautionary measure, the ANSM decrees the withdrawal from the market. In-depth analyzes have been launched but families have already lodged a complaint (there are more than 600 today).
A temporary specialized scientific committee (CSST) is then formed to determine the risk associated with these defective products. After analyzing the available data, its members conclude that it is “unlikely” that the particles caused widespread reactions. “Only a local reaction could be considered,” they argue. But the two analyzes ordered by the ANSM, from two different laboratories, deliver contradictory results. The next step in this new medical case will therefore be the publication of the results of the medical expertises currently being carried out.
(1) Meningitec is a vaccine indicated to prevent invasive infections caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis of serogroup C. It is no longer marketed. It was used in infants from 2 months of age, adolescents and adults.
Almost 100,000 people in solidarity
The families of victims receive significant support through a petition launched on Change.org, last October, by Coralie Muhammad. This mother, also a victim, asks the Minister of Health, Marisol Touraine, to open a crisis unit about the Meningitec vaccine, which she accuses of being the cause of “unexplained fevers, of rashes, daily abdominal pain, recurrent diarrhea, sleep and eating disorders ”in her daughter who was vaccinated at one year old.
Following the media coverage of her petition, she has already collected nearly 100,000 signatures on the Internet, and her collective was even received last November at the Ministry of Health.
At the exit, however, she deplored that Marisol Touraine had rejected “any health problem, and offered to provide a toll-free number to reassure parents”. A measure deemed “insufficient” by this mother, who, in this case, above all expects something from justice. In this regard, it should be emphasized that this case is not just a Franco-French issue, a similar action is underway in Italy for this same vaccine.
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