France Experiencing Measles Outbreak

The number of measles cases reported in France during the first five months of 2017 is 295, according to Sante Publique France. This is six-times the number of cases reported (47) during the same period as in 2016.

According to news reports, measles has circulated widely in the general population in metropolitan France during 2017. Outbreaks have been reported in Lorraine, New Aquitaine and Occitania.

Now the newly appointed France Health Minister, Dr. Agnes Buzyn wants to extend the number of mandatory vaccinations to eleven, from just three.

This new policy would include immunizations for conditions such as measles, hepatitis B, meningitis C, rubella, mumps and whooping cough.

Currently, France requires just vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus and polio.

At present these vaccinations are only government recommended and the decision whether or not to immunize a child is left to the parents.

France’s population is estimated to be just 75% immunized.

“This ‘existing’ double system is unique to France,” Dr. Buzyn told Le Parisien newspaper. “It poses a real public health problem,” adding that measles is coming back.

According to research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 50 percent of US travelers who are eligible for the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, are not getting vaccinated before leaving the country.

The CDC says a single case of imported measles can lead to many secondary and tertiary cases, as measles is highly infectious. The CDC reports that 90 percent of exposed, unvaccinated people will become ill with measles after entering a room that had housed an infected person up to two hours beforehand.

As such, the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunizations recommends two documented doses of MMR vaccine for adult international travelers without other evidence of measles immunity.

In the USA, Merck is the manufacturer of the mumps vaccinations. MMR and ProQuad both contain the protection for mumps, as well as protection for measles, rubella. ProQuad additionally protects against varicella.

The CDC Vaccine Price Lists provide current vaccine contract prices and list the private sector vaccine prices for general information.