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Health After Italy now vaccination in France - and Germany?
In France there will be a vaccination against measles and various other diseases. Our neighboring nation is the second European country after Italy to issue a compulsory vaccination program for infants. In Germany is set instead to more information.
France is expanding its vaccination coverage
In May, following a measles epidemic, the Italian government decided to vaccinate children for a total of twelve diseases. In the future, unvaccinated children under the age of six will not be admitted to nurseries, kindergartens or preschool classes. Furthermore, parents of school-age children over the age of six who are not vaccinated must pay high fines. Now, France has also decided to extend the obligation to vaccinate.
The French government has decided to extend the obligation to vaccinate. In the future, parents will have their children vaccinated against a total of eleven diseases. There is no compulsory vaccination in Germany. (Image: Richard Villalon / fotolia.com) Mandatory vaccinations against eleven diseases
In France, three vaccinations are currently compulsory for persons under the age of 18: diphtheria, tetanus and polio. From 2018, children must be vaccinated against eight other diseases.
There are also compulsory vaccinations against measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough, pneumococci, meningococci, Haemophilus influenzae type b and hepatitis B..
According to media reports, Premier Édouard Philippe said in a speech to the National Assembly that one should not allow children to die of measles in Pasteur's home country.
The chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur was one of the first scientists to discover that bacteria are responsible for many infectious diseases. He is considered a pioneer of the vaccination principle.
Deaths from measles
In Germany, too, there are measles epidemics, which are sometimes associated with deaths.
For example, the death of a six-year-old girl from Hesse after a measles illness caused nationwide attention last year. And only in May did a 37-year-old woman in Essen succumb to the disease.
Health experts repeatedly emphasize that measles is not a harmless childhood disease. The disease also affects adults, which is why it is necessary to check its vaccine protection.
There is no compulsory vaccination against measles in Germany - and not against other diseases.
"Anyone can, without explanation, refuse a vaccine for themselves or their children. And those who see themselves as vaccination opponents or vaccine critics, sometimes do so, "writes the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on its website.
Majority of Germans for vaccination
A majority of Germans would welcome the obligation to vaccinate, but many experts are against it. They rely more on education than vaccination.
Although Federal Minister of Health Hermann Gröhe has announced a tougher approach against vaccination opponents, Germany is far from having an initial situation as in France.
There are many critics and skeptics. According to RKI, it is justified "to demand special care in vaccination and to critically discuss contentious issues".
The RKI experts, together with their colleagues from the Paul Ehrlich Institute, explain the "20 most common objections to vaccination".
It is clear: "Vaccinations differ from other medical interventions. On the one hand, they are not only aimed at the benefit of the individual, but also at the protection of the whole population. On the other hand, they are carried out by healthy people. "
Risks are overestimated
Vaccinations are wrongly a controversial topic, says Mag. DDr. Wolfgang Maurer, who is responsible for vaccination at the Vienna University Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
"In general, risks are misjudged," the expert said in an interview. And: "The frequency of vaccine damage is greatly overestimated, often there are other diseases behind it, which occur just after vaccination, but are not the cause, such as many epilepsy."
By vaccination measures you can basically protect not only yourself, but others as well. This can also prevent deaths, as shown repeatedly in measles diseases of infants. (Ad)