Measles and poliomyelitis. Two diseases that have nothing in common, except that there is a vaccine for each. Vaccines have become major problems for health authorities in several countries around the world.
Germany is thus facing an unprecedented resurgence of measles, which has been eradicated for several years. Almost 600 cases have been identified in recent weeks and above all a child died last week, recalls the Berlin correspondent of Release.
Vaccination coverage in the German capital is only 60%. It must reach 95% to allow complete eradication of the disease, recalls the daily. According to a survey carried out by the country’s health insurance funds, six out of ten Germans consider that measles “is not a serious illness”…
It is among the “bobo-bio” middle classes according to Release that we find the most opponents of vaccination. Their main argument: a scientific publication published in 1998 and which associated the vaccine against measles with a risk of autism and diabetes.
An article denied and withdrawn since, but which also feeds the cause of anti-vaccines across the Atlantic; the United States has also been dealing with an outbreak of measles for several months.
But anti-vaccines are also rampant far from the bobo neighborhoods of Western capitals. In Pakistan, some opponents of the polio vaccine have become radicalized and several aid workers have been murdered. But even in the face of the majority of them, who remain peaceful, the government has decided to strike hard. Nearly 500 parents who refused to have their children vaccinated were jailed this week. They will only be released once the children have been vaccinated.
A radical measure but which reflects the concern and the fed up of the authorities in the face of minority groups which jeopardize national health. In Germany, members of the CDU-SPD coalition would like to see measles vaccination made compulsory, and in the United States many politicians of all persuasions have spoken out in favor of the removal of “philosophical exemptions” which allow parents to refuse vaccination.
France, where the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps, rubella) is “recommended”, is also in full questioning about vaccination. The PS MP, Sandrine Hurel, has just been given a mission on the subject.
According to health authorities, vaccination coverage is tending to decrease in France. A situation that could, in part, be due to the complexity of our vaccination schedule where mandatory and recommended vaccines are mixed. Within six months, Sandrine Hurel should, according to the Ministry of Health, “make concrete proposals to improve the rate of adherence of French people and health professionals to vaccination”.
