Seasonal influenza vaccine for mothers may prevent infant hospitalizations

Infants born to mothers who were vaccinated against influenza were hospitalized less than infants born to unvaccinated mothers, according to data presented yesterday at the 47th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Marietta Vazquez, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at Yale University School of Medicine, presented preliminary data from their case-control trial. Vazquez and colleagues identified more than 350 infants and their mothers who had been hospitalized; 157 were positive for influenza and 230 were negative.

“Vaccinating mothers during pregnancy was 80% effective in preventing hospitalization due to influenza in their infants during the first year of life and 89% effective in preventing hospitalization in the infants under 6 months of age,” Vazquez said. This could prove to be a cost-saving measure of providing protection, since it “provides vaccination for two people," and is particularly important for infants aged younger than 6 months, as no influenza vaccine is currently approved for use in this age group. – by Colleen Zacharyzuk

For more information:

Vazquez M. Effectiveness of influenza vaccine given to women during pregnancy in preventing hospitalizations in their infants. Presented at: Infectious Diseases Society of America Meeting. Oct. 29-Nov. 1, 2009. Philadelphia.