Like every year, the High Council of Public Health publishes the vaccination schedule, these are the official recommendations in terms of vaccination and this is the opportunity to take stock of this subject …
Yes and in particular to recall the principle of vaccination. Its purpose is to induce the production of antibodies by the body. Antibodies are biological agents that defend the body against identified pathogens, such as a virus or bacteria, for example. This antibody production gradually decreases over a longer or shorter period, thus fixing the duration of efficacy of the vaccine. It is for this reason that it is useful to make reminders.
So a vaccine is specific to a disease?
Yes that’s right. But, there are products that combine several vaccines in a single dose. This is called a combined or multivalent vaccination. An example of combined vaccination, that against diphtheria, tetanus and polyomelitis in infants, this DTPolio vaccine is also compulsory.
Are there other compulsory vaccines in France?
Without wishing to play on words, for the general population, there is no longer any real obligation to vaccinate, the experts speak of recommendations … more or less strong depending on the situation. An example, BCG, the preventive vaccine against tuberculosis, is no longer compulsory but it is strongly recommended for children residing in Ile-de-France, Guyana and Mayotte, for children born or whose parents were born in countries where tuberculosis is rife.
It is true that this infectious disease has made its return to France in recent years, are there other diseases that are reappearing?
This is the case of measles, which has been on the rise since 2008. The health watch institute recorded 22,000 cases in 2011. And the increase in the number of cases is due to a lack of vaccination. So I would like to remind you of the recommendation for children: at two years old, they should have received two doses of the vaccine for the vaccination coverage to be effective. Another disease that appears especially in adults because of forgetfulness of reminders is whooping cough. And faced with this disease, it is recommended that future parents be vaccinated to protect the newborn …
A word about the flu, which arrived quite late this year, is there anything new?
Yes, for children aged 2 to 17, the Technical Committee on Vaccinations is announcing a new spray vaccine that is administered through the nose, but we do not yet know if it will be available for the next influenza season …
Immunization week from April 21 to 27
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