29 Jun Vaccines Protect the Youngest Babies
Posted at 17:54h
in News
Nicholas Bakalar, The New York Times
Two new studies offer good news for newborns and children about two different vaccinations — flu vaccine for pregnant women, and rotavirus vaccine for infants.
There is no flu vaccine licensed for children under 6 months, and infants that age have the highest rates of pediatric influenza hospitalization. But a flu vaccine can still protect them if their mothers get the shot when they are pregnant. Most women now do just that — during the H1N1 flu epidemic of 2009-10, for example, 51 percent of pregnant women were vaccinated, compared with only 9 percent in 2002-3.