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Being vaccinated against influenza during the six influenza seasons has reduced the risk of hospitalization for influenza by an average of 40%.
The results come from a multi-country, Co-authored CDC study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. This is the first study showing that pregnant women protected against vaccination against influenza-related hospitalization are protected against vaccination. Previous studies have shown that influenza vaccine can reduce the risk of influenza in pregnant women.
The CDC recommends that pregnant women be vaccinated against influenza because they are at high risk of developing serious influenza illness, including an illness that causes hospitalization.
"Pregnant women face a number of threats to their health and that of their baby during pregnancy, and catching the flu is one of them," says Allison Naleway, PhD, co-author of the Center's study. Kaiser Permanente Health Research Center. "The results of this study underscore the fact that there is a simple but effective way to reduce the risk of flu-related complications during pregnancy: getting a flu shot."
Influenza study analyzed data from more than 2 million pregnant women
For this study, the CDC has partnered with a number of public health and healthcare systems in Australia, Canada, Israel and the United States through the PREVENT network. Influenza prevention network for pregnant women, consisting of medical records and vaccination systems. The sites retrospectively reviewed the medical records of more than two million pregnant women from 2010 to 2016 to identify those who had been hospitalized for laboratory-confirmed influenza.
The main conclusions include:
- More than 80% of pregnancies coincided with influenza season, highlighting the likelihood that pregnant women will be exposed to influenza at some point during pregnancy.
- The influenza vaccine was equally protective for pregnant women with underlying medical conditions such as asthma and diabetes, which also increase the risk of serious medical complications, including worsening of these chronic conditions.
- The influenza vaccine was equally protective for women during the three quarters.
Flu during pregnancy
Influenza can range from mild to severe, but presents an increased risk for pregnant women experiencing changes in their immune system, heart and lungs. These changes make them more vulnerable to serious influenza illnesses throughout their pregnancy and for the next two weeks.
These results underscore the importance of ongoing efforts by the CDC and other public health agencies and partners to promote influenza vaccination during pregnancy. In the United States, in recent seasons, only about half of pregnant women report having been vaccinated against influenza (pregnant women should not receive the nasal spray vaccine).
"Our study found that influenza vaccination works equally well for women in every trimester, and it also reduces the risk of illness during delivery," says Mark Thompson, Ph.D., co-author and epidemiologist of the Canadian Blood Services. Influenza Division of the CDC.
Benefits of the flu vaccine for pregnant women and their babies
Other studies have shown that in addition to helping protect the pregnant woman, a flu shot given during pregnancy helps protect the baby from influenza infection several months after birth, before he's old enough to get vaccinated. Influenza vaccines have been administered to millions of pregnant women for many years with a good safety record. The CDC and ACIP recommend that pregnant women be vaccinated during the trimesters of their pregnancy.
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