A vaccination campaign against papillomavirus (HPV) began around two weeks ago in all public colleges and voluntary private establishments. It should make it possible to increase vaccination coverage among adolescents.
The return of injections to school. A school vaccination campaign began around two weeks ago, which concerns all public colleges in France and voluntary private colleges. It is offered to all 5th grade students but is not compulsory. These adolescents receive injections to protect them from papillomavirus (HPV), viruses responsible for 6,400 new cases of cancer in France.
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Despite everything, this campaign looks complicated on paper. Indeed, those first concerned do not know what these papillomaviruses correspond to, like these 5th grade students from the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry college in Rosny-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis). “We are going to get vaccinated against HPV, it is the butterfly virus (sic) and we can have different cancers: throat cancer, eye cancer”says a teenager. “We already have the papillomavirus, right? Well, I don’t know, is it transmitted?”asks another student.
Remedial course on papillomaviruses
To clearly understand what we are talking about when we talk about HPV, it is human papillomavirus. These are fairly widespread and sexually transmitted viruses. They can cause cervical cancer in women, and even certain cancers of the vagina and vulva. In men, this can lead to penile cancer. Women and men can also be affected by certain cancers of the throat and anus. The vaccine, to prevent them, is considered more effective when it is administered during adolescence in two doses, i.e. before first sexual intercourse.
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This vaccination therefore concerns girls and boys. The campaign is supposed to extend vaccination coverage to all 5th grade students. “So much the better if we can vaccinate as many people as possible”, explains Doctor Mohan Vijayakanthan who vaccinates these young people. “I perhaps have more people who would not have come to the office on their own”says the one who usually officiates at the municipal health center.
Except that of the 200 5th grade students at Antoine de Saint-Exupéry college, only 17 boys and girls are candidates for vaccination, or less than one teenager in ten. Some parents even refused to allow their child to be vaccinated. “One girl said her parents didn’t want to because they were afraid for her”, says a young person. Gardasil, the vaccine used against HPV, had in the past raised fears about its side effects. But they are swept aside by specialists, who today consider it safe and effective.
France is “a bad student”
In addition to parents’ fear, the few candidates can be explained by the lack of information among young people. “Between the students who have already had a started or complete vaccination schedule, and those who are vaccinated today, we are in this college at nearly 18-20% of young people vaccinatedexplains Michèle Lorenzi, nurse and technical advisor at the Créteil rectorate. “The objective was to reach 30%. We are at the beginning, I think we will improve”continues the nurse.
“We can hope that during the next vaccination campaigns, we will reach more correct figures.”
Michèle Lorenzi, nurse and technical advisor at the Créteil rectorateat franceinfo
The government has set itself the goal of vaccinating 30% of 5th grade students this year, but it will certainly not be achieved. At the moment, the Ministries of Health and Education do not provide national figures on the number of students volunteering for this campaign. It must be said that when it comes to vaccinating adolescents against papillomaviruses, France is a long way off. “We are not a very good studentconfirms Doctor Joseph Monsonégo, specialist in HPV infections. In 2022, vaccination coverage for young girls with two doses is around 42%. For boys it is around 8%, which is absolutely insignificant if we want to obtain a state of public health protection against cancer.“
However, the stakes are enormous. By vaccinating on a large scale, cervical cancer can be completely eliminated, explains Linda Eckert, professor of gynecology at the University of Washington and until recently an advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO). “If we vaccinate 90% of young girls worldwide, we will eradicate the virus and therefore cervical cancer. This is the WHO’s objective for 2030she explains at the International Congress of Gynecology in Paris. Some countries are almost there and are in the process of eliminating this cancer: Australia, England orEpod. Australia has managed to vaccinate 80% of girls and will undoubtedly be the first country to achieve this. And what has allowed these countries to virtually eradicate cervical cancer is precisely having implemented vaccination of adolescents in middle school.