In the vaccination schedule for 2023, health authorities on Wednesday recommended a new vaccine for infants, against the virus that causes gastroenteritis. “Vaccination against rotavirus is now recommended for all infants,” the Ministry of Health announced in a press release.
This announcement implements a recommendation made last summer by the High Authority for Health (HAS) in favor of the vaccination of toddlers against rotavirus infections, the main causes of acute winter viral gastroenteritis. Affected infants from six weeks to six months.
Efficacy and good tolerance of the vaccine
This vaccination had already been recommended in the early 2010s but the measure was suspended in 2015 after the occurrence of serious adverse effects. However, after reassessing the latest data, the HAS concluded that the vaccine was effective and well tolerated, stressing that no safety “signal” had been observed for years.
Another novelty, the health authorities recommend “that vaccination against seasonal influenza be integrated into the vaccination schedule to be offered each year to children without comorbidities aged 2 to 17 years old, without making it compulsory”. The ministry also recommends that young girls and boys aged 11 to 14 get vaccinated against papillomaviruses. These infections are responsible each year for more than 6,000 cancers, particularly of the uterus. The state announced in February a widespread vaccination campaign in colleges.
Eleven compulsory vaccines
Eleven vaccines are still mandatory in the first 18 months of the child. A single product immunizes children against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, Haemophilus influenzae type b infections and hepatitis B. Vaccination is done in two injections in infants, at two months and four months , followed by a booster at 11 months of age. The vaccination schedule is the same for pneumococcal infections.
Vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella is done at 12 months with a first injection, followed by a second between 16 and 18 months. Finally, to fight against invasive meningococcal infections (mainly meningitis), a dose of vaccine is recommended for infants aged five months and then 12 months. A twelfth compulsory vaccine is added to this list, only for residents of Guyana, with an injection against yellow fever, to be done from 12 months.