David Costa: “Unthinkable that in 2024 we will still die of measles”

Le docteur David Costa insiste sur l’importance de la vaccination. D.R – Midi Libre

Le docteur David Costa, médecin généraliste et directeur du département universitaire de médecine générale de la fac de médecine organise ce vendredi à Nîmes une conférence sur la vaccination. Histoire de lutter contre la désinformation en la matière et répondre à toutes vos questions.

In 2024, are you still experiencing patient reluctance regarding vaccination??

Yes and that’s saying something. Many of them are worried because of the fake news circulating about vaccination. Some of which do not date from yesterday. We remember in France the worry of developing multiple sclerosis following a vaccine against Hepatitis B, in England, patients were afraid of becoming autistic as a result. of the injection… Added to this is sometimes a lack of time on the part of the health professional and the general practitioner, who due to lack of time during consultations forget to make points on their patient's vaccination record. All in all, vaccination is not optimal in France.

Recently we have also witnessed an epidemic of measles and it seems that cases of whooping cough have also increased in France since last January ?

Yes, I myself have seen two patients suffering from measles in the office since the start of the year. Who were not vaccinated. While recently a young girl died in our country from this disease. This is unthinkable! The only way to make a disease disappear is to vaccinate the population. It is not said that vaccinated people never develop the disease in the event of contamination. But as with Covid, the effects will be much less serious and dangerous for survival. For example with measles, we see unvaccinated patients who develop the first symptoms and who a few weeks after recovery develop measles meningitis. A very serious complication!

While whooping cough and measles are among the mandatory vaccines!

Yes, measles is administered to babies aged 12 months, whooping cough from three months. And if in an adult this last disease is extremely annoying and causes coughing fits for three months, in an infant it is very serious. The child is immediately hospitalized in intensive care and the outcome is uncertain.

What do you think of the government's desire to vaccinate all college students against the Papillomavirus ?

I think it’s obviously important. But the poor scores encountered by this initiative are due to a lack of communication about the virus. Many imagine that this virus only affects women who are more likely to develop uterine cancer later. While men are just as likely to be affected by throat cancer, for example in the event of contamination with the Papillomavirus. For it to disappear, boys and girls must be vaccinated.

What do you expect from Friday's conference?

I will speak with my colleague Eric Shwartzentruber, the doctor in charge of the departmental vaccination center. We hope to remove preconceived ideas, deny fake news and above all answer all the questions that the public, which we hope will be numerous, will want to ask us on this subject.

See you this Friday, April 26, at 6 p.m. at the Carré d’Art auditorium in Nîmes. FREE ENTRANCE. I subscribe to read more