Vaccinations for children

[DZ]

Hi

I am new to this forum so I apologize if this question has already been discussed at length.

Do children need to have a record of particular vaccinations before starting school in France?  My children are 10, 13 and 17.  Is MMR vaccination obligatory in France?  When do children get their TB vaccination?

Thanks for any help with this!

Anna

[Harley]

We have to provide a list of the vaccinations our children have had on a form provided by the school.  They have just had their daisy prick test for TB and now have to go back for the jab.  Our youngest is three.  I believe they are supposed to have it before they go to school.  Not sure about MMR.  All ours have had this up to date in the UK.

PS Welcome to the Forum...Sorry I'm not awake yet!

[Mistral]

The only vaccinations that are obligatory in france are the DTP and the BCG. All the others are "recomandée" and no-one can force you to have them done.

Children are expected to have the BCG before starting creche or school so most have the jab in their first few months, once they're got the DTP series out of the way. But there is no set age as long as it's done before they start school.

Here's the ministry website for school inscriptions. http://www.education.gouv.fr/prat/inscrip.htm The vaccinations aren't mentioned in the collège/lycée inscriptions part because it's assumed that children will have had them done for primary.

A lot of people on the forum have never been asked to have the jabs done, it seems to depend a lot from school to school despite the ministry rules.

 

[Teamedup]

My children had their BCG jabs when they were babes in arms. That is how young they did them then.

 

[Lollie]

My eldest had his TB before we arrived,  but the younger two had not.  As one approached 12 I took him to our Doctor here and asked for the jab.   He said it is no longer necessary here, but insisted on the whooping cough jab?  it seems different it each region.   The schools asked for a copy of the jabs already had, I just photocopied the page in the red book. 

I would asked at registered Doctors if the schools do not ask for it.

Good Luck

Lolie  Dept 44

[Teamedup]

Lollie, please please tell me exactly where the loi is written that the BCG is no longer obligatoire. Because I would love to know.

[Lollie]

[quote]Lollie, please please tell me exactly where the loi is written that the BCG is no longer obligatoire. Because I would love to know.[/quote]

Hi Teamed Up

I did not say it was written anywhere,  my Doctor said it was not necessary, and he seems a switched on kinda guy!   Both the schools my children attend are aware they have not had the BCG and have not insisted on it. So see no reason not to believe him. However,  the risk of BCG seems to have increased in the UK  recently and as we visit once a year I may ask that they have it anyway at some point.

As said in my previous note it does appear to change region to region.  So suggest persons check with their own doctor. Sorry I cannot help any further.

Lollie

[Teamedup]

OK, so it is a good thing that your doctor is likely ignoring french law when TB is on the increase???? The school doctors should pick up on this anyway. At least I hope that they do as they give a test from time to time, or at least they did when my kids were at school.

[DZ]

Thanks a lot to all of you for your helpful replies. It is really heart-warming for such a new forum member like me to see how active this forum is.

Anna

[Elsie2]

Even if your school does not ask to see evidence of BCG vaccination, you could find (if your children don't have BCG) that they have problems taking part in other activities. We had to show BCG certificates to join the local 'centre social', for example, and for ski creche.

[Jooles]

Hi

My doctor also said that the BCG was not necessary anymore, but both the Ecole Maternelle and the College insisted.  I also thought this was strange as TB is on the increase.

[Mistral]

My doctor also said that the BCG was not necessary anymore, but both the Ecole Maternelle and the College insisted.  I also thought this was strange as TB is on the increase.

As far as I've understood it, a lot of doctors are saying that the BCG isn't very effective against the strains of TB that are around nowadays so they don't really see the point. For the last few years there has been a rumour that the government is going to stop making it obligatory. The problem is that this isn't yet the case and no-one know when (or even if) it is going to happen. At the moment is is still obligatory for school inscription according to the ministry of education.

The whole situation becomes difficult when a doctor decides to advise against it and the school insists on it. Even if the school doesn't ask for it at inscription (which technically it should) there are set moments for school doctor's visits and they check that the jabs are up to date then.

[benedicte]

I found this link useful, it's a summary of the law on vaccination in France:

http://www.ctanet.fr/vaccination-information/laws.htm

[naps]

 

Don't always trust what the doctor says.  We took our daughter for an appointment the day before she was due to start in the moyenne section of the maternelle.  The doctor checked over our vaccination record and said everything was fine and that she is due no further vaccinations until 2007.  I double checked that she was up-to-date to start school, and he said all was fine.

Last week she had a check at school - height, weight, sight, speech and vaccination record and came home with a note saying she must have her BCG.  So we'll be back off to the doctors to inform him.

 

[Lollie]

[quote]OK, so it is a good thing that your doctor is likely ignoring french law when TB is on the increase???? The school doctors should pick up on this anyway. At least I hope that they do as they give a te...[/quote]

Hi Teamed Up

Just to update, my daughter had her medical last week and the doctor sent a note saying she needed her D.T.and POlio and her BCG,   her D.T.& Polio are uptodate as per the UK health book with a requirement for a booster age 15-18, so will check with the Doc, when I will once again ask for the BCG.

Will be interesting to see of the school doctor follows up his recommendations.

[Teamedup]

If you ask at your Mairie they will tell you where the closest Centre Medico/Sociale is and they will sort out the BCG jab and test etc.

[Battypuss]

Unless you have VERY good reasons for not doing so, I would suggest that all your children are jabbed against anything that walks, flies or crawls. Sadly, or not, depending on your point of view, with which I take no issue, the statement "I disagree with xxxx" cuts no ice in Normandy. Either your child is jabbed, and can go to school, or isn't and cannot. The law IS meant to change, but has not done so yet in France.

 

Conversely, my children (unfortunately) recently started school in London after 12 years in France. I enquired about vaccinations, knowing the pair were up to date and was utterly amazed to learn that the schools could not have cared less whether the two of them had received even the most basic of vaccinations.

 

To be honest, I find this rather worrying. Certainly in London, there is a major influx of children from other countries, many of whom have never heard of jabs, let alone received any. Small wonder then, that 'normal childhood ailments' are on the increase (if statistics are to be believed). Sorry, my darlings, stick your arm out and you can have a lollipop afterwards. At least I can sleep at night knowing that, even if some do not work, I have given it my best shot.

Please feel free to shoot me. 

[benedicte]

If you and your doctor agree that your child will not have any/some of the vaccinations then they can issue 'le certificat de contre-indication'. In line with medical confidentiality, the reason for the counter-indication to any vaccination does not have to be given on the certificate. The doctor who issues the certificate is not required to reply to questions from any source regarding the nature of the decision.

If the certificate is temporary the duration of its validity must be indicated. If it is permanent it does not have to be renewed. (Article L 7-1 of SP(POLIO), Decree of 28 February 1952 (Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio) which specifies for the school, certificate of vaccination or certificate of counter-indication; decree of March 19, 1965 - all vaccinations).

Special case for BCG : the above applies but the law recognises only these forms of counter-indication :

- a temporary and active dermatological condition

- immune deficiency

[Battypuss]

[quote]If you and your doctor agree that your child will not have any/some of the vaccinations then they can issue 'le certificat de contre-indication'. In line with medical confidentiality, the reason for ...[/quote]

I have had two doctors in France. Out of interest, I enquired of both how they felt about signing a certificate of 'non-conformation' for any or all of required vaccinations. I hasten to add that my children had been inocculated and the question was purely a point of interest.

Both were reaching for the telephone before I had finished the sentence, in order to call the guys in the white coats.

It would appear that unless you wish to spend many happy hours in the surgery awaiting another temporary delay before some horrid person sticks a needle in your childs arm, you are doomed to home education.

And that, believe me, is REALLY good fun to explain to the French Ministry of Education - whichever board.

Been there, done it. And it wasn't over a jab.