Summary
On the basis of a wide range of historical sources, including published scientific literature and both public and private archives (Institut Mérieux, WHO and IMTSSA), this article examines the history of the Brazilian vaccination campaign against cerebrospinal meningitis between 1974 and 1975. It explores not only certain aspects of vaccine production but also the wider social aspects of the ongoing project. Thus, it shows how the different actors were mobilised and their work coordinated in order to produce and vaccinate a whole country or more specifically, 90 million Brazilians in less than a year. This episode not only adds to the scholarship on the politics of vaccination but also attests to the complex reality of the production and use of a vaccine in the context of a public health emergency.
Cet article traite des moyens de communication et d’information déployés par l’Institut Mérieux de Lyon afin de promouvoir la vaccination contre la poliomyélite en France dans les années 1960. En tant que producteur des deux vaccins antipoliomyélitiques (vaccin Lépine et vaccin Sabin) utilisés à l’époque, l’institut lyonnais a cherché à mobiliser la communauté médicale et scientifique, mais également le monde politique, contre cette maladie pour laquelle la vaccination obligatoire venait d’être adoptée. À terme, l’Institut Mérieux souhaitait qu’une campagne nationale d’information et de vaccination soit mise en place. En définitive, la perception de la poliomyélite ainsi que la prise en compte de sa gravité et de ses répercussions ont été entièrement associées à sa prévention à travers la vaccination.
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