To the Editor: We read with interest the recent publication by Rowe and colleagues.1 The authors reported low influenza vaccine coverage (39%) among pregnant women in Victoria from 2015 to 2017. Individual‐level factors associated with this finding included greater maternal age, primigravidity, early antenatal care and GP‐led antenatal care.1
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- 1. Rowe SL, Perrett KP, Morey R, et al. Influenza and pertussis vaccination of women during pregnancy in Victoria, 2015–2017. Med J Aust 2019; 210: 454–462. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2019/210/10/influenza-and-pertussis-vaccination-women-during-pregnancy-victoria-2015-2017
- 2. Krishnaswamy S, Wallace EM, Buttery J, Giles ML. Strategies to implement maternal vaccination: a comparison between standing orders for midwife delivery, a hospital based maternal immunisation service and primary care. Vaccine 2018; 36: 1796–1800.
- 3. Better Care Victoria. Closing the gap on maternal immunisation in Victoria [website]. Melbourne: Better Care Victoria, 2018 https://www.bettercare.vic.gov.au/our-work/innovation-fund/innovation-projects/Browse-all-projects-listing/closing-gap-maternal-immunisation-victoria (viewed Oct 2019).
- 4. Giles ML, Krishnaswamy S, Macartney K, Cheng A. The safety of inactivated influenza vaccines in pregnancy for birth outcomes: a systematic review. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2019; 15: 687–699.
- 5. Mohammed H, Clarke M, Koehler A, et al. Factors associated with uptake of influenza and pertussis vaccines among pregnant women in South Australia. PLoS One 2018; 13: e0197867.
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