INDICES> Re: Hep B vaccine

[Jerome Sclafer <jeromjet@easynet.fr>]

>Just came across this on another list: "France has now mandated that the
>Hep. B vaccine be given to no one under 14 years of age."  Does anyone know
>if this is true?  David 

This statement is not true. In France vaccination against hepatitis B is
still officially recommended to infants and preadolescents/adolescents. The
mass vaccination of preadolescents in schools has however been suspended
and GPs are supposed to propose the vaccination. Vaccination of high-risk
person, whatever their age, remains recommended.
The decision of suspension of mass vaccination in school came after the
preliminary report of 2 case control studies (in France and UK) evaluating
the association between vaccination and demyelinising disease. Although
both studies concluded that the association was not statistically
significant (OR 1,4 CI95 0,4-4,5 and 1,6 CI95 0,6-3,9), the minister
decided to suspend vaccination in schools because it was difficult to check
for the official contra-indication, family history of demyelinising disease.
This contra-indication is not based on sounder data. Among the cases for
demylinisation notified, 18% had familiy history, but the association
between the notified cases and vaccination is not demonstrated as shown above.



Jérôme Sclafer <jeromjet@easynet.fr>
Médecin généraliste - Rédacteur
La revue Prescrire - BP 459 - 75527 Paris Cedex 11 - France
Tel: +33 (0)1 4700 9445  Fax: +33 (0)1 4252 1582


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