Health: A vaccination campaign against papillomavirus and meningococcus

The Agence régionale de santé (ARS) and the rectorat, in partnership with healthcare professionals, are renewing a free vaccination campaign in public and private establishments. The 2025-2026 campaign now combines two free vaccinations: one against the human papillomavirus (HPV), responsible for several cancers, and the other against meningococcal ACWY, a bacterium that can cause fulminant meningitis and septicemia.
ARS is announcing a new feature for this year. The campaign also extends to medical and social establishments and services (ESMS). Adolescents aged 11 to 14 in these facilities will benefit from free vaccination, under the same conditions as schoolchildren. The two injections can be given on the same day, one on each arm, with a single parental authorization form, says the ARS.
The human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most widespread infections, assures the ARS, which specifies: "8 out of 10 people are exposed to it during their lifetime. In most cases, the virus disappears spontaneously, but it can sometimes persist, causing precancerous lesions that develop into cancers of the cervix, vagina, anus, penis or throat. "More than 7,000 cancers a year in France are linked to HPV. "The vaccine is most effective when administered between the ages of 11 and 14, as it is in the youngest age group that vaccination best reinforces immunity", explains the ARS.
Meningococcus is a bacterium found in the nose or throat, which is transmitted orally via droplets emitted when speaking, coughing or sneezing, says the Regional Health Agency. If it reaches the bloodstream or brain, it causes meningitis or septicemia, which can be fatal within 24 hours or leave serious after-effects (deafness, epilepsy, amputations). Teenagers aged 11 to 14 are particularly at risk," says ARS. Communal living encourages the spread of the germ. "
In its press release, the ARS does not specify the dates and pace of the vaccination campaign.