Papillomavirus prevention: talk to your pharmacist
HPV or human papillomaviruses are particularly common viruses, extremely contagious and which concern us all. As the National Cancer Institute (INCa) indicates, “while HPV infections generally disappear within a few months, a small proportion can persist and progress to cancer. » They are thus responsible each year in France for 6,400 new cases of anogenital and ENT cancers. Tumors induced by infection which can, for some, be avoided thanks to prevention methods, such as vaccination and screening.
“We disseminated the information to the families, who gave their consent or not. For a child to be vaccinated, the agreement of both parents is required,” explains Marie-Pierre Leclère-Guillomo, principal of the college. Thus, in Yvon-Delbos, almost a third of the workforce concerned passed into the hands of the medical teams of the Departmental Council and received a first injection. The second is planned for June.
In educational establishments
This campaign is carried out on the one hand by the Department, which manages 18 colleges, and on the other hand by the Pasteur clinic in Bergerac, which is responsible for 23 others. It is therefore carried out within the schools themselves, in the infirmary, if it allows it, or in equipped classrooms, like here in Montignac-Lascaux. Part of the space has become a consultation room, isolated from view, in which nurses carry out injections, the rest of the class serving as a waiting or rest room.
“There are 6,400 new cases of HPV per year”
“We are going to pick up the students in their classes. They wait their turn, get vaccinated and stay around fifteen minutes before going back to class,” says Agnès Mahiddine, school nurse. Among young people, opinions are divided. Some were afraid of the injection, others were more calm, but, according to the nurses: “They are all on top, they ask questions when they don’t know and, above all, they are supportive of each other. »
First reports
According to the Regional Health Agency (ARS), 17% of adolescents in the 12-13 age group are vaccinated. “There are 6,400 new cases of HPV per year. The virus is contracted during sexual intercourse. This is why we try to vaccinate before the first relationships, and to concentrate on 5th grade classes,” confides Didier Couteaud, director of the ARS in Dordogne. He intends to systematize this system in the years to come, to try to achieve maximum coverage, knowing that 90% vaccination is recommended to eradicate the virus.
