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Maternal vaccination, obstetrician recommendation increase infant cocooning
Obstetrician recommendation and maternal Tdap and influenza vaccination increased the likelihood of infant cocooning via other close contacts, study data suggested.
Cocooning is the practice of vaccinating close contact adults and children against vaccine-preventable diseases in order to protect infants from transmission and infection.
“This study confirms prior studies about the importance of obstetrician recommendation to pregnant women to receive vaccines and adds to the literature that that influence applies to vaccination of close contacts as well,” Sean T. O’Leary, MD, MPH, of the department of pediatrics at the University of Colorado, and colleagues wrote. “Close contacts of newborns are also more likely to be vaccinated if the mother herself is vaccinated, suggesting that educational efforts regarding the importance of cocooning newborns may best be directed at pregnant women.”
Sean T. O’Leary
To gauge the effects of Tdap and influenza vaccination on factors related to cocooning, the researchers conducted a 3-month survey during 2013 of 274 postpartum women from nine obstetrics-gynecology practices. Questions focused on the participant’s perceptions of: vaccine benefits and barriers, susceptibility to infection, severity of pertussis and influenza infection and social norms. The researchers also asked whether the participants had been recommended vaccination, and if so, by whom.
Study data showed that 61% of participants, as well as at least one other close contact, were vaccinated against influenza. Sixty-seven percent also said they and at least one close contact had received Tdap vaccine. The median number of vaccinated close contacts for infants whose mothers received an influenza vaccine was 2.8, compared with 0.9 close contacts for infants whose mothers were not vaccinated. (P < .0001). Similarly, the median number of close contacts for infants whose mothers received a Tdap vaccination was 2.4 vs. 0.8 for mothers who did not.
The researchers said obstetrician recommendation was significantly associated with cocooning, as were high perceived benefits, low perceived barriers and perceived susceptibility to disease.
“Future educational interventions should be directed at addressing identified barriers to vaccination and stressing the benefits of vaccination, particularly for influenza vaccine,” O’Leary and colleagues wrote. – by David Costill
Disclosure: O’Leary reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a list of all other researchers’ relevant financial disclosures.
