Maternal pertussis vaccination cuts ED presentations in newborns by 89%: JAMA study
Researchers also found that severe flu cases in offspring were 67% less likely when the mother had received a flu shot.
Pertussis vaccination in pregnant women is associated with an 89% lower risk of severe pertussis in their newborns, a JAMA Network Open study suggests.
Severe flu cases in offspring were also 70% less likely if their mother had received an influenza vaccination during pregnancy, the Italian study found.
The results showed the urgent need to encourage more pregnant women to take up influenza and dTpa vaccines, said the researchers from the University of Milan’s National Centre for Healthcare Research and Pharmacoepidemiology.
The study examined health data from 53,448 pregnant women who received a dTpa vaccine and 5347 who received a flu vaccine, with each vaccinated mother–infant dyad matched to an unvaccinated dyad.
