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Vaccinating parents with Tdap may lower rate of infant pertussis hospitalizations
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DENVER — Hospitalization rates for infants with pertussis may be reduced by the practice of cocooning, according to research presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies’ Annual Meeting 2011, held here.
Cocooning involves indirectly protecting infants against pertussis by vaccinating their household contacts with the tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis (Tdap) vaccine, according to study researcher Gretchen Banks, MD, of Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Banks noted that an estimated 14% to 35% of infants acquired pertussis from their mothers, and 6% to 18% acquired pertussis from their fathers.
“Many infants acquire pertussis from a household contact,” Banks said. “Cocooning is a promising strategy to prevent infant pertussis cases. Vaccinating the parents immediately with Tdap post-partum is an attractive approach.”
Banks and colleagues derived current estimates of infants that have been hospitalized annually from published rates of pertussis hospitalizations. The latest available data from 2003 indicated that there were 79 to 144 pertussis hospitalizations per 100,000 infants aged 0 to 4 months. The projected estimates of pertussis hospitalizations if parents were vaccinated were derived from the following: the 2003 data, the reported Tdap vaccine efficacy in adults, and the proportion of infants with pertussis where the parent was the confirmed source.
They estimated that if both parents were vaccinated, 505 to 2,255 parents would need to receive the Tdap vaccine to prevent one hospitalization of an infant aged 0 to 4 months. If only mothers were vaccinated, 765 to 3,222 parents would need to be vaccinated, and if only fathers were vaccinated, 1,487 to 7,517 parents would need to be vaccinated.
“Vaccinating parents is projected to reduce the rates of infant pertussis hospitalizations,” Banks said. “As few as 505 mothers would need to be vaccinated with Tdap to prevent one infant pertussis hospitalization. Vaccinating fathers also is anticipated to provide additional benefits.”
Disclosures: Dr. Banks reports no disclosures.
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