Le Figaro Lyon
Professor Yves Gillet is responsible for pediatric emergencies at the woman-mother-child hospital and head of the mobile pediatric infectious disease team within the Hospices Civils de Lyon.
LE FIGARO. -
Since the start of the year, several cases of measles have been reported in Est-Lyonnais
.
The ARS points to the origin of these small epidemics which, each time, concerned an unvaccinated person.
Is this the only protection?
Yves GILLET. -
Measles is a disease that has been known for a very long time and is remarkably constant over time.
It is among the most contagious infectious diseases I know of.
When you are not protected against it and you are in contact with someone who has it, there is an extremely high risk of catching it.
The only way to protect yourself is immunity.
Either because you have already contracted measles, or through the vaccine.
Imagining that we can protect ourselves otherwise is an illusion.
Unfortunately, this illusion is maintained by some people who explain that infectious diseases are due to modern lives, but measles has existed for several centuries.
Why are cases increasing?
There is currently a worldwide resurgence.
In Europe, the resurgence of cases began with a large outbreak born in Romania, then another in Germany and finally one currently in the Rhône-Alpes region.
But we already had peaks in 2009-2010 then 2015 and 2018. Then nothing during Covid.
Each time, the cause is unique.
It is non-immune people who transmit the virus.
There are no pangolins in the story.
My pediatrician colleagues in Sweden have probably only seen measles in medical books
Professor Yves Gillet
How does the appearance of these measles outbreaks work?
First, the virus develops in very specific communities of people who are resistant to vaccination or poorly vaccinated and when one of these people comes across someone without antibodies, the disease spreads.
In general, it should be said that one infected person contaminates between 18 and 20 others.
That's twice as much as Covid.
Also read: “Vaccination coverage against measles has increased since 2018”
Is it a dangerous disease?
In France, nearly 30,000 cases were recorded between 2009 and 2020. We don't talk about it much but it caused 26 deaths.
In one case in a thousand, measles causes brain damage that can be fatal.
The problem with this disease is that once contracted, you first have a bad cold during which you are very contagious, even though you don't yet know it's measles, and then the spots appear.
And once declared, there is no treatment.
We treat the symptoms but that's it.
Of the 26 deaths I spoke of, 18 were immunocompetent and 8 immunocompromised.
So, 18 people died due to negligence because they were not vaccinated and 8 due to the selfishness of the first because the immunocompromised cannot be vaccinated.
Would it be possible to eradicate measles?
There are countries that have done this, particularly in northern Europe.
If someone arrives there with this disease, nothing will happen because everyone is protected.
It is a human virus that survives for a very short time on surfaces and is therefore transmitted almost exclusively by contact.
We have had the vaccine since 1969. At the time, many thought that we would be able to eradicate this disease by 2010. Some countries succeeded, others did not, due to insufficient vaccination coverage.
My pediatrician colleagues in Sweden have probably only seen measles in medical books.
It is a preventable disease in the truest sense of the term.
We often forget to say it because we think it is reserved for tropical countries, but France is a country for which there are vaccination recommendations for travelers.
When we are in North America we say “
ah you are going to France, pay attention to the measles vaccination
”.
We are not only known for the baguette and our culture.