Effect of maternal vaccination on influenza virus infection in infants

January 01, 0001

Effect of maternal vaccination on influenza virus infection in infants

These US authors assessed the effect of seasonal influenza vaccination during pregnancy on laboratory-confirmed influenza in infants to 6 months of age in an observational cohort study. Participant were 1169 mother- infant pairs with mothers who delivered an infant during 1 of 3 influenza seasons.

They found: "A total of 1160 mother-infant pairs had serum collected and were included in the analysis. Among infants, 193 (17%) had an influenza- like illness (ILI) hospitalization, 412 (36%) had only an ILI outpatient visit, and 555 (48%) had no ILI episodes. The ILI incidence rate was 7.2 and 6.7 per 1000 person-days for infants born to unvaccinated and vaccinated women, respectively. There was a 41% reduction in the risk of laboratory- confirmed influenza virus infection and a 39% reduction in the risk of ILI hospitalization for infants born to influenza-vaccinated women compared with infants born to unvaccinated mothers."

The authors concluded: "Maternal influenza vaccination was significantly associated with reduced risk of influenza virus infection and hospitalization for an ILI up to 6 months of age and increased influenza antibody titers in infants through 2 to 3 months of age."

Evidence that vaccinating mothers leads to important reduction in hospitalizations for serious influenza-like illness in small infants.

For the full abstract, click here.

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 165(2):104-111, February 2011 © 2011 to the American Medical Association
Maternal Influenza Vaccination and Effect on Influenza Virus Infection in Young Infants. Angelia A. Eick, Timothy M. Uyeki, Alexander Klimov,et al. Correspondence to Dr. O’Brien: [email protected]

Category: R, Respiratory, B. Blood/Blood Forming Organs/Immune Mechanisms. Keywords: influenza, infants, vaccination, hospitalization, cohort study, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Linda French, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 22 February 2011

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

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