Distrust of vaccinations on the rise across EU
Europeans are turning away from vaccines, amid rising distrust of
immunisation for infectious diseases. France's Constitutional Council
has upheld legislation obliging parents to have their children
innoculated. EurActiv France reports.
Given the choice, not everybody would vaccinate their children. Marc
and Samia Larère asked the French Constitutional Council for a "priority
preliminary ruling on the issue of constitutionality" (QPC) on whether
they could legally be forced to vaccinate their children.
The response came on 20 March: compulsory vaccination is legal under
the French constitution. Like many parents, the Larères feel that the
obligatory DTP vaccine (against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) poses
too high a risk and protects against illnesses that are virtually
non-existent in France.
The only DTP vaccine to not contain aluminium was withdrawn from the
market in June 2008, and the others have been out of stock for months.
The only remaining option is the hexavalent vaccine that also immunises
against hepatitis B, although this is not on the obligatory vaccination
list, and the vaccine has suspected links to multiple sclerosis.
