Mothers can protect their newborns from the flu if they are vaccinated during pregnancy, according to a new study from Johns Hopkins researchers.
The study, which showed the mother can pass on flu antibodies, is the first to support a long-standing federal recommendation that pregnant women receive the flu vaccine, doctors said.
“Even though there is no flu vaccine for these children, our study shows that a newborn’s risk of infection can be greatly reduced by vaccinating mom during pregnancy,” said study lead author Dr. Mark Steinhoff, professor in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of International Health.
Flu infection among babies up to 6 months old dropped 63 percent in those born to vaccinated mothers, according to the study. The number of severe respiratory illnesses to mothers and babies also fell 36 percent.
The findings were presented during the National Vaccine Advisory Committee meeting Wednesday and will be published in the Oct. 9 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Johns Hopkins researchers studied 340 women in Bangladesh in collaboration with researchers from the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends pregnant women be vaccinated, because they are at risk for flu complications. About 15 percent of pregnant women are vaccinated each year, researchers said.
Babies infected with the flu often suffer more serious consequences than adults, and can sometimes require hospitalization, said Dr. Edward Lawson, chief of neonatology at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.
However, babies under 6 months old aren’t vaccinated, because they don’t develop antibodies to the virus so the vaccine is ineffective, he said.
“Unless the mother has the influenza antibodies, then the baby tends to not be protected at all,” Lawson said.
This study proves what many researchers have suspected, Lawson said, adding he hopes this will prompt obstetricians to encourage their patients to be vaccinated.
“It’s been known in theory that antibodies can cross the placenta and protect the baby,” he said.
“I think it really does put the seal on that recommendation that the mom should be vaccinated.”
