Tdap Vaccine and Flu Shot Found Safe for Pregnant Women

Influenza and Tdap vaccines administered during pregnancy found safe
pregnant mom in woods, reflecting
(Precision Vaccinations News)

As expected, most expecting mothers worry about the impact of vaccines on their future children.

And, there are a limited number of studies reporting on the long-term safety in infants for vaccines administered during pregnancy.

A new research study evaluated whether receiving the influenza and Tdap vaccines during pregnancy increases the risk of infant hospitalization, or death, in the first 6 months of life.

These researchers confirmed these two common vaccinations were found safe for pregnant women.

Additionally, infants hospitalized for respiratory reasons were significantly less likely to be born to mothers who had received the Tdap vaccine.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), currently recommends pregnant women receive influenza and tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccines.

This study was a case-control study matching case-patients and controls 1:1 and used conditional logistic regression to estimate odds ratios for maternal exposure to influenza and/or Tdap vaccines in pregnancy.

The study included live birth pregnancies in the Vaccine Safety Datalink between 2004 and 2014, which was over 400,000 live births, 25,222 infants had hospitalizations and 157 infants died in the first 6 months of life.

These researchers reported no association between infant hospitalization and maternal influenza (adjusted odds ratio: 1.00; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.96–1.04) or Tdap (adjusted odds ratio: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.88–1.01) vaccinations.

And, found no association between infant mortality and maternal influenza (adjusted odds ratio: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.54–1.69) or Tdap (adjusted odds ratio: 0.44; 95% CI: 0.17–1.13) vaccinations.

“The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommend that pregnant patients receive both a flu shot and a Tdap shot during their pregnancy ", said Alexandria Duffield, Pharm.D. MTM Clinical Pharmacist at Brookshire Grocery Company.

"This protects both the mother and their unborn baby from contracting the flu and whooping cough respectively."

"Furthermore, it is recommended that anyone who will be coming into frequent contact with the baby be up to date on all vaccinations.  This process is known as "cocooning", said Duffield.

Previous research supports this new study’s findings:

Influenza vaccine:

Tdap vaccination while pregnant:

Most pharmacies in the USA offer the flu shot and Tdap vaccine.

The CDC Vaccine Price List provides the private sector vaccine prices for general information.

Flu vaccine discounts can be found here.

Vaccines, like any medicine, can have side effects, says the CDC. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of vaccines to the FDA or CDC.

 

Our Trust Standards: Medical Advisory Committee

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