Concerned about vaccine safety

you may be aware that although recommended by the NHS, vaccines for children are not compulsory in the UK, however in France children must show proof of vaccination before attending school. Has anyone with reservations about vaccinating their children had any experience sending their child to a French school ?

I would have thought that the must show proof… bit sums it up.

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HI Geoff… I will ask the question…as I am closely linked with our local school. :relaxed:

thank you Stella

EN fonctionnaire and parent here:
The only compulsory vaccinations are diphtheria, polio, tetanus (DPT) they are usually given together along with Hib meningitis and whooping cough.
As long as a child has the DPT they can go to school, no other vaccination is compulsory although they are recommended. You must have documentary evidence of their having been administered, without it your child will not be accepted at school.

(The vaccination rate for MMR in Dordogne is currently about 65% so not high enough for herd immunity to work, 3 people in my daughter’s class at lycée have measles and 2 of them are currently in hospital.)

Cheers Vero … can cross that one off my list… :relaxed::relaxed:

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Faut-il faire vacciner son enfant pour l’inscrire en collectivité ?
Vérifié le 24 janvier 2018 - Direction de l’information légale et administrative (Premier ministre)

Oui, un enfant doit être vacciné (sauf contre-indication médicale reconnue) pour pouvoir être admis, en crèche, à l’école, en garderie, en colonie de vacances ou toute autre collectivité d’enfants.

Le nombre de vaccins obligatoires dépend de la date de naissance de l’enfant.

Enfant né avant 2018
Les vaccinations obligatoires sont les suivantes : diphtérie, tétanos et poliomyélite (DTP).

Et pour les résidents de Guyane, la fièvre jaune, à partir de 1 an.

Les personnes titulaires de l’autorité parentale doivent veiller au respect de cette obligation.

Les vaccinations recommandées concernent :

les maladies telles que la tuberculose, la coqueluche, la rubéole, la rougeole, et les oreillons, la varicelle, la grippe, l’hépatite B, le zona ;
les infections invasives à haemophilus influenzae de type B, à pneumocoque, à méningocoque C ;
les infections Ă  papillomavirus humains.
Le médecin, qui procède à la vaccination obligatoire de l’enfant, doit l’inscrire sur son carnet de santé.

Les autres vaccinations ne sont pas obligatoires. La preuve d’autres vaccinations (variole, coqueluche, BCG, ROR…) ne doit pas être réclamée.

Note that this changes for children born in 2018 and thereafter who will have a whole load more compulsory vaccinations.

Thats correct V’.

A friend of my Wife, has a sister, who contracted measles in Germany, aged 25, was in a coma, almost died, (Encephalitis) poor girl has brain damage, will never completely recover.
Why anyone, would deny their child immunity, I cannot comprehend???

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Hello Bill, I am sorry to hear of that, it is very sad for her and her freinds & family.
I wonder if she was vaccinated against measles as a child.
I was not at this point wanting to start a debate on the subject of benefits & risks of vaccines (but will of course if requested, but in a different thread), I was simply asking a question about the requirements for non French children attending school and how the vaccination records from the Uk compare with this in France

From a nursing and a parental stand point I cannot fathom why anyone would not vaccinate.

Yes there are possible problems but they are far less than what you are protecting against.

A family we knew in England who refused their kids the vaccines, lost a child to Measles, that was one protected against by the vaccinations. After their child’s death they vaccinated their other 3 children and became big advocates for vaccinating kids.

BUT its down to each individual family to decide to do it or not.

For schools i’m not sure which is compulsory but they are soon to be 11 not 3. Three vaccines: diptheria, tetanus and polio are already obligatory but from 2018 these will be joined by eight more: whooping cough, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, influenza, pneumonia and meningitis C.

SO without these 11 your child cannot attend school and you can be done for it too.

Now i know measles has only killed 1 child a year in France over the past 10 years but that is one of the diseases, others killed many more and that is just the deaths not the lifelong problems diseases leave behind.

Hope you manage to get your head around it all or find a school willing to take your child.

Three vaccines: diptheria, tetanus and polio are already obligatory but from 2018 these will be joined by eight more: whooping cough, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, influenza, pneumonia and meningitis C. as of this year is 11 compulsory

its bnot kids born in 2108 but all kids at school must be vaccinated.

thanks for your reply Harry. Like I said, I did not want this request for information to turn into a debate about risk versus benefit of vaccines althoughI am in full agreement with what you say in the middle of your reply - there should be freedom for personal choice in this matter. With regard to your first line, initially I was like you in that I could not fathom why anyone would not vaccinate - and then I studied the subject and like many who have actually taken the time to do so, I chave come to an entirely different conclusion.
regards.

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Yes i studied vaccines as a nurse and its something we actually spent a great deal of time on in studies.

Its personal choice though as i said, alas french school system requires all vaccinations to be done for your child to attend school.

Yes, as I said, DPT is compulsory for everyone born before 2018, from the 2018 cohort on there are a whole raft of extra, compulsory, vaccinations.

I am sorry, was what I wrote unclear?

Harry,there is no change for those born before 2018, the only compulsory vaccination for entry to school or other group remains the DPT. Schoolchildren do not need suddenly to get the other vaccines. Unless their parents want them to, obviously.

it was my understanding that anyone starting school from 2018 not birth

I posted the relevant bit of law above, Harry. It clearly states that the new vaccine protocol applies only to those born from 2018 (so not for 2018 school entrants).

ahh okay, thanks for clarifying for me.