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NEW YORK - An influenza vaccination for pregnant women expecting to deliver during flu season does not seem to reduce the occurrence of respiratory illness in their newborn infant, research suggests.
Influenza vaccination is currently recommended for children between 6 and 23 months of age. Vaccination in younger children has proven unsuccessful because it does not stimulate much of an immune response at that age, according to the report in the Archives of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
One solution was vaccinating the mother in the hope that protective antibodies would be passed to the baby while still in the womb. Whether this strategy actually helps prevent respiratory disease in the child is unclear.
In their study, Dr Eric K. France, from Kaiser Permanente Colorado in Denver, and colleagues assessed the occurrence of respiratory disease in 3160 infants born to vaccinated mothers and in 37,969 born to unvaccinated mothers.
All of the infants were born at least 28 days after their mother's vaccination and exposed to 14 days or more of influenza season.
Maternal influenza vaccination did not significantly affect infant outpatient and inpatient visits for respiratory disease, the report indicates. Moreover, maternal vaccination did not delay the onset of the first respiratory illness.
Girls seemed to be better protected against acute respiratory illness, while patients on Medicaid (state medical coverage for needy people) and high-risk mothers were more likely to need treatment.
"Although this vaccination did not appear to have an effect on the rates of infant healthcare visits, vaccination is still important and is primarily recommended to protect the health of the mother," the researchers said.
- REUTERS
