Pertussis and influenza vaccinations should be incorporated into antenatal care and accurately documented
Vaccination of pregnant women protects them against influenza and pertussis, and also delivers protective antibody to their fetus, protecting infants when they are at the highest risk of life‐threatening disease but are too young to be vaccinated.1
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- 8. Mohammed H, McMillan M, Roberts CT, et al. A systematic review of interventions to improve uptake of pertussis vaccination in pregnancy. PLoS One 2019; 14: e0214538.
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- 11. Eberhardt CS, Blanchard‐Rohner G, Lemaître B, et al. Maternal immunization earlier in pregnancy maximizes antibody transfer and expected infant seropositivity against pertussis. Clin Infect Dis 2016; 62: 829–836.
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- 13. Australian Department of Health. Australian immunisation handbook: pertussis (whooping cough). Updated Mar 2019. https://immunisationhandbook.health.gov.au/vaccine-preventable-diseases/pertussis-whooping-cough; (viewed Apr 2019).
- 14. Novavax. Novavax announces topline results from phase 3 PrepareTM trial of ResVax™ for prevention of RSV disease in infants via maternal immunization [media release]. 28 Feb 2019. http://ir.novavax.com/news-releases/news-release-details/novavax-announces-topline-results-phase-3-preparetm-trial; (viewed Apr 2019).
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- 16. Madrid L, Seale AC, Kohli‐Lynch M, et al. Infant Group B streptococcal disease incidence and serotypes worldwide: systematic review and meta‐analyses. Clin Infect Dis 2017; 65 (Suppl 2): S160–S172.
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Helen Marshall is an investigator in clinical vaccine trials sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, but receives no personal payments from these companies. Her institution receives funding for investigator‐led studies from GSK, Pfizer, and Sanofi–Pasteur. Helen Marshall is a member of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), but this Editorial reflects her personal views and not those of ATAGI.