No Risk For Children Born To Mothers Given Flu Jabs During Pregnancy: Study

Although pregnant people are not more susceptible to acquiring influenza infection, they are at an increased risk of complications if they get the flu during pregnancy.

A population-based study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), has found flu vaccination during pregnancy does not lead to an increased risk of adverse early childhood health outcomes. Although pregnant people are not more susceptible to acquiring influenza infection, they are at an increased risk of severe illness and complications if they get the flu during pregnancy. For this reason, all pregnant people are advised to receive a flu shot each year, yet only 36 per cent received it, according to a study monitoring four flu seasons in Nova Scotia. Safety concerns are reportedly a leading reason people may not receive influenza vaccination during pregnancy. Dr Deshayne Fell, an Associate Professor of Epidemiology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa and a scientist at the CHEO Research Institute, a paediatric healthcare and research centre, led the study along with researchers in Ontario and at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. The study followed over 28,000 children from birth up to an average age of 3.5 years, with the results suggesting that maternal influenza vaccination during pregnancy was not associated with: