Infants born to women who receive the flu vaccine during pregnancy are nearly 50 percent less likely to be hospitalized for the flu than infants born to mothers who did not receive the vaccine while pregnant, The St. Louis American reports.
A new collaborative study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and colleagues examined data collected by the New Vaccine Surveillance Network over the course of seven flu seasons between 2002 and 2009 -- before the start of the H1N1 pandemic.
The data examined information on more than 1,500 babies who had undergone laboratory testing for the flu and who had been hospitalized with fever, respiratory symptoms or both within the first six months of life.
Results from the study showed that infants born to women who received the flu vaccine while pregnant were 45 to 48 percent less likely to be hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza.
“It is recommended that all pregnant women receive the influenza vaccine during pregnancy because it is known that pregnant women have increased morbidity and mortality during pregnancy and in the immediate postpartum period if they get the flu,” Katherine A. Poehling, M.D., MPH., an associate professor of pediatrics and lead author on the study, told The St. Louis American. “We also know that mothers pass antibodies through the placenta to the baby. This study showed us that receiving the influenza vaccine during pregnancy not only protects the mother, but also protects the baby in the early months of life.”
