out of stock of children's vaccines

The only vaccine to prevent tick-borne encephalitis in children, recommended for some trips, is out of stock until late July at the earliest, announced Tuesday the National Agency of Medicines (ANSM). "Out of stock since July 9," says the ANSM on its website, about the vaccine Ticovac 0.25 ml children, Pfizer laboratory. "Provisional release scheduled for the week of July 30", adds the agency.

Serious brain infections. Tick-borne encephalitis is a viral disease transmitted by the bite of these insects. It can cause serious infections of the brain or spinal cord and meninges. Vaccination is recommended by the French health authorities when traveling "in rural or wooded areas in endemic regions (Central, Eastern and Northern Europe, northern central Asia, northern China, northern Japan). spring to autumn. "

Vaccination not necessary in France. Two countries bordering France, Switzerland and Germany, and many others, are concerned, as far as Sweden and Finland to the North, Greece to the South, and Japan to the East. In France, this vaccination is however not necessary, the disease being very rare (three cases per year according to the researchers). The Ticovac vaccine for adolescents and adults (0.5 ml) is also out of stock, and this "since June 19". But there remains a competing vaccine available in pharmacy, Encépur, GlaxoSmithKline laboratories, which can be injected from the age of 12.