“The term failure is very severe, 10% is already good,” says a pediatrician

The head of the pediatric department at Nantes University Hospital points out that the campaign was launched in September, interrupted by two periods of school holidays.

“The term failure is very harsh, 10% is already good”, estimated Thursday January 11 on franceinfo Christèle Gras Le Guen, spokesperson for the French Society of Pediatrics, and head of the pediatric department at Nantes University Hospital. The campaign launched in September against papillomaviruses is, for the moment, far from the objectives stated by the government. Less than 10% of students received a first dose of vaccine, while the government’s objective was to reach 30% of 5th grade students vaccinated. Papillomaviruses cause more than 6,000 cancers in adults in France. According to the pediatrician, to achieve this goal, “you need material resources, human resources and a little time”, she says. Vaccination was decided last summer for a launch at the start of the school year: “It’s obvious that we didn’t have time to prepare for it,” affirms Christèle Gras Le Guen. This vaccine is “extremely safe”she reassured. “We have no worries or danger”she says.

franceinfo: Do ​​you consider it a failure?

Christèle Gras Le Guen: The term failure is very harsh for a vaccination campaign which began three months ago since there were twice fifteen days of vacation in establishments which took steps to vaccinate in a somewhat hasty manner at the start of the school year. . So 10% is already good. By age group, around 800,000 children are in school and therefore 10% represents 80,000 injections. That’s already not bad for the three months that have just passed.

How do you explain the reluctance?

There is some reluctance. This is not a scoop, it is something that is already known. However, a vaccination campaign was also an opportunity to inform and accelerate, these 10%, it is something that we would not have seen without this campaign, and then also to legitimize, in a way so that everyone can accept calmly. Most parents accepted this vaccination without difficulty. Now, we have to implement it and for that, we need material resources, human resources and a little time.

Is it a good idea to carry out this vaccination in middle and high schools? ?

This campaign was decided during the summer and launched in September, it is obvious that we did not have time to prepare for it. We did not have time to find the premises, to find the organizations in September. However, the example of many countries, such as the Australians, shows that it is the most effective means if we want, in the long term, to cover as widely as possible the population which is concerned by this vaccination, namely middle school students. and high school students.

How long did it take Australia to eradicate this virus?

Australians have been vaccinating for around fifteen years. This virus, once it establishes itself in a patient, it creates the lesions little by little. This is how long it took for the Australians to send us an extremely promising signal: ‘In our country, there are practically no more cancerous lesions linked to this virus’. There is an effect over time. We must be able to continue with the material and human resources necessary to continue what has been initiated since the start of the school year.

Near Nantes, at the end of October, a teenager felt unwell after having just been vaccinated. He died after falling down the stairs of his establishment. This high-profile affair created a bit of panic among parents ?

The side effects of vaccines are a major concern for the French population. We are vaccine skeptics, we are the champions of the genre. Indeed, there is great vigilance from parents. However, the episode you are talking about is currently under investigation. There is an investigation which will establish precisely the causes of this tragedy. But it was indeed an accident.

“The fifteen years of feedback we have on this vaccination in Australia show that it is extremely ‘safe’. We have no concerns or dangers.”

Christèle Gras Le Guen, head of the pediatrics department at Nantes University Hospital

at franceinfo

However, vaccinating adolescents cannot be improvised. You must settle in comfortable conditions. This is what was done during Covid. We vaccinated a lot of adolescents during Covid, but there were vaccination centers that were equipped. Schools must be equipped with equipment and human resources to give themselves the means to vaccinate adolescents because, indeed, this is not a population like any other. They are prone to vagal reactions in particular which must be able to be prevented.