We sought to determine whether maternal vaccination during pregnancy was associated
with a reduced risk of laboratory-confirmed influenza hospitalizations in infants
<6 months old. Active population-based, laboratory-confirmed influenza surveillance
was conducted in children hospitalized with fever and/or respiratory symptoms in 3
US counties from November through April during the 2002 through 2009 influenza seasons.
The exposure, influenza vaccination during pregnancy, and the outcome, positive/negative
influenza testing among their hospitalized infants, were compared using logistic regression
analyses. Among 1510 hospitalized infants <6 months old, 151 (10%) had laboratory-confirmed
influenza and 294 (19%) mothers reported receiving influenza vaccine during pregnancy.
Eighteen (12%) mothers of influenza-positive infants and 276 (20%) mothers of influenza-negative
infants were vaccinated (unadjusted odds ratio, 0.53; 95% confidence interval, 0.32–0.88
and adjusted odds ratio, 0.52; 95% confidence interval, 0.30–0.91). Infants of vaccinated
mothers were 45-48% less likely to have influenza hospitalizations than infants of
unvaccinated mothers. Our results support the current influenza vaccination recommendation
for pregnant women.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 24, 2011
Accepted:
February 14,
2011
Received in revised form:
February 4,
2011
Received:
December 16,
2010
Footnotes
Reprints not available from the authors.
Conflict of Interest: This project was supported by Cooperative Agreement nos. U01/IP000017, U01/IP000022, and U01/IP000147 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr Poehling received support from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (K23 AI065805) and Wachovia Research Fund. Dr Staat had funding from Medimmune for respiratory syncytial virus studies; Dr Griffin received grant funding from Medimmune; Dr Edwards received grant funding from Wyeth, Novartis, Sanofi-Pasteur, and CSL with only the CSL funding being related to influenza studies. Dr Staat was on the Medimmune Advisory Board, and Dr Edwards was a consultant to NexBio. Drs Szilagyi, Snively, Payne, Bridges, Chu, Finelli, and Ms Light and Ms Prill have no conflicts to report.
Contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Publication of this article was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs.
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
