Does the flu vaccine in pregnant women protect or not the baby?

Given the proximity of winter, the flu vaccination campaign has begun, with pregnant women being one of the risk groups to which it is recommended to get vaccinated. Many will consider applying the seasonal flu vaccine (which this year will also protect against influenza A), but one of the most frequently asked questions is whether the flu vaccine protects the baby or not.

The scientific responses in this regard have been quite contradictory. Some studies have questioned the efficacy of immunization in the baby by claiming that it did not significantly favor cases of respiratory disease in children, while others ensured protection in the baby during the first six months.

New research seems to reinforce this last theory, which defend baby protection when the vaccine is applied in the pregnant woman.

Pregnant women are considered a moderate risk group for the effects of seasonal influenza, including this year in the vaccination campaign for future mothers who are in the first trimester and not only those of the second and third as in previous years .

The truth is that they recommend vaccination because the flu vaccine in pregnant women, in addition to protecting the future mother from possible complications against infections, would also reduce the risk of influenza in the child by 41 percent.

According to the study, the chances of having respiratory illnesses which, in newborn babies, almost certainly lead to hospital admission, also decrease by 39 percent.

They have been able to verify that the babies of the mothers who had received the vaccine had blood samples with higher levels of antibodies than the babies whose mothers had not been vaccinated.

The latest research seems to confirm then that the flu vaccine in pregnant women protects the mother during pregnancy and the baby during the first six months of life.

Video: Protect Yourself, Protect Your Baby (March 2024).