Measles: HAS recommends compulsory vaccination for caregivers - Headlines

2023-07-31 13:11:26

July 31, 2023

The High Authority for Health published its second part on Monday on recommended vaccinations for healthcare workers. If the compulsory vaccine against measles is now recommended, that against the flu remains only recommended.

The High Authority for Health (HAS) published Monday, July 31 the second part of this work devoted to the obligations and vaccination recommendations of healthcare personnel. In a first part published on March 30, the recommendation to lift the obligation to vaccinate against Covid-19 caused a stir. Since then, the measure has been made effective by the government.

In this second part, the HAS recommends compulsory immunization against measles. According to the health authority, studies by Public Health France show that health professionals are involved in 75 to 83% of measles cases in health establishments in France. “This contagiousness, combined with the existence of a vaccine offering effective protection (over 95% after a complete vaccination schedule) and lasting (for life, for non-immunocompromised people), lead the HAS to recommend an obligation to immunization against measles, writes the health authority in a press release.

Unvaccinated staff and students must be vaccinated, a serological test may be carried out to find out the immune status of the professional. As a reminder, the measles vaccine is contraindicated in pregnant women and compulsory for all babies since 2018.

Low flu vaccination coverage

The recommendation of the HAS concerning seasonal flu was also awaited. In this area, it is the status quo, the HAS still does not recommend making vaccination compulsory. However, she regrets the low vaccination coverage among staff caregivers “around 22 to 25.9% in 2021-2022, far from the target set at 70%”.

However, she refuses the vaccination obligation for the following reasons: “the inconsistent effectiveness of influenza vaccination depending on the year; and the insufficiency of the data available to date on the burden of nosocomial influenza in people treated and on the impact of the vaccination of caregivers on this burden”. The health authority calls for larger studies to collect more robust data on the subject.

Against the opinion of the Academy of Medicine

For several years, the Academy of Medicine has been calling for an obligation to vaccinate against the flu. “Because of their occupational exposure, the risk of influenza infection is higher among caregivers than in the general population. They are often implicated as a probable source of contamination in nosocomial flu epidemics, knowing that 50 to 80% of them continue to work when they are infected. Nosocomial flu is common in hospitals and nursing homes where it causes mortality that can reach 60%,” she justified in a press release from September 2020. As a reminder, the vaccination obligation had been enshrined in law before being suspended by decree in 2006.

Vaccines against whooping cough, hepatitis A, and chickenpox are still recommended for healthcare workers. In the first part of the report, the High Authority for Health had maintained the vaccination recommendations against diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis and hepatitis B.

Source : HAS, press release of July 31, 2023 – Academy of Medicine, September 19, 2020
Written by : Dorothée Duchemin – Edited by Emmanuel Ducreuzet