As every year, the Ministry of Health, after consulting the High Authority for Health (HAS), makes public their vaccination schedule. This vaccination schedule sets the vaccinations applicable to people residing in France according to their age. It issues “general” and “specific” recommendations, specific to specific situations, such as increased risks of complications, exposure or transmission to certain diseases.
This year, in addition to the 11 compulsory vaccines for children, the Ministry of Health is introducing new recommendations, including vaccination against meningococcal B – a bacterium responsible for meningitis -, which is now recommended for all infants (children over 29 days and under 23 months).
A three-dose vaccination schedule is recommended: a first at the age of 3 months, a second at 5 months and a third at 12 months. “Vaccination is also recommended for the family circle of people at high risk of invasive meningococcal infections”, specifies the health authority.
The flu vaccine recommended to avoid transmission to animals
The ministry also recommends “vaccination against whooping cough – another infantile respiratory disease caused by a bacterium – in pregnant women” from the second trimester of pregnancy, “by favoring the period between 20 and 36 weeks of amenorrhea (i.e. d absence of menstruation), in order to increase the passive transplacental transfer of maternal antibodies and to ensure optimal protection of the newborn”, he specifies.
Finally, vaccination against seasonal influenza is recommended for professionals exposed in a professional setting to swine and avian influenza viruses. ” As French breeders face a major avian flu epidemic“this vaccination is to be considered as a collective protection measure aimed at preventing the transmission of human influenza viruses to animals and not as an individual protection measure against zoonotic viruses”, details the Ministry of Health.