Tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough… Adults should continue to get vaccinated, although almost one in two French people stated last April that they were poorly informed about booster campaigns. On the occasion of European Vaccination Week, health authorities continue to insist on the “essential” nature of updating their vaccines.
“It is essential to keep vaccines up to date throughout life to be protected effectively and sustainably,” Health Insurance specifies on its site.
dTP and whooping cough required
Mandatory boosters include those against diphtheria, tetanus, and polio (dTP). The dTP booster is “necessary” every 20 years to maintain its effectiveness, that is, at ages 25, 45 and 65, and then once every ten years.
Less well known, the whooping cough booster should be given at age 25. Last week, Public Health France (SpF) called for vigilance on the resumption of circulation of this highly contagious and sometimes serious disease.
Although the number of pertussis cases has decreased dramatically since the introduction of the vaccine, “the bacteria continues to circulate” and affects children too young to be vaccinated, as well as adolescents and adults who have lost the protection of the vaccine, the most. especially due to insufficient reminders.
Vaccination on the rise in 2023
In addition to these two mandatory booster doses, there are vaccines recommended by health authorities, such as the annual flu vaccine, Covid-19 vaccine or now against shingles for people over 65 years of age. All recommended vaccines appear in the Health Insurance vaccination schedule.
According to SpF, among adults, vaccination coverage against flu and Covid-19 “remains insufficient among people at risk.”
Just over half of those over 65 years of age (54%) were vaccinated against the flu in the 2023-2024 season, that is, 2.2 points less than a year before, and just over a quarter (25, 4%) of those under 65 at risk of serious illness, or 6.2 points less. Against Covid-19, only a third of people aged 65 and over have been vaccinated.
In its annual report, the SpF notes an increase in vaccination of the French in 2023, which still needs to “improve” against certain infections, particularly those that are on the rise, such as measles.
Given “the resurgence of preventable diseases such as measles” and the arrival of millions of foreign visitors during the Olympic Games, “it is particularly necessary (…) to reinforce the vaccination process of all children, adolescents and young adults born after 1980 who have not received the complete two-dose schedule,” the agency argued this Monday, April 22.
However, he noted that support for vaccination has “stabilized” in mainland France “at a high level”: more than 8 in 10 people are in favor of vaccination in general.
Source: BFM TV
