Influenza vaccine safe at any stage of pregnancy
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Women in the second and third trimester of pregnancy can safely be immunized against influenza, according to a new study.
The influenza vaccine is “widely underused in all populations and age groups, and yet, it is one of two vaccines that is routinely recommended for pregnant women in the US (tetanus is the other one),” Dr. Flor M. Munoz from the Baylor College of Medicine told Reuters Health.
To reaffirm the safety of the vaccine, particularly when administered in the second and third trimester, Munoz and colleagues in Houston analyzed data from five influenza seasons (1998 to 2003).
They calculated immunization rates and compared pregnancy outcomes between a group of healthy women who received influenza vaccine and a control group of healthy unvaccinated women matched for age, month of delivery, and type of medical insurance.
Among more than 7,183 eligible mother-infant pairs, only 252 pregnant women (3.5 percent) were immunized against influenza, Munoz and colleagues report in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Gestational age at the time of vaccination ranged from 14 to 39 weeks; the average gestational age at vaccination was 26.1 weeks.
According to their report, “no serious adverse events occurred within 42 days of vaccination, and there was no difference between the groups in the outcomes of pregnancy (including cesarean delivery and premature delivery) and infant medical conditions from birth to 6 months of age.”
These findings, they say, support the current recommendation to administer influenza vaccine “at any time during pregnancy in both high-risk and otherwise healthy pregnant women.”
Munoz added: “The opportunity of offering and administering this vaccine during routine prenatal care visits should not be missed.”
“Using vaccines during pregnancy is a strategy that has the potential to provide protection to two persons at one time during a period of high vulnerability—the mother and the fetus,” Munoz added.
SOURCE: American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, April 2005.
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