Moms and Moms-to-be: Get vaccinated and protect you and baby

Mothers-to-be who received a flu shot during pregnancy are much more likely to protect their infants from contracting the flu, according to a Yale study published in today’s Clinical Infectious Diseases. In this case-controlled study, infants hospitalized for documented influenza were evaluated for the mother's flu vaccination history during pregnancy. The relative risk of being hospitalized for influenza was reduced by over 90 percent in the study group, which was comprised of infants whose mothers had received the flu vaccine, as compared to the control group of infants whose mothers did not get vaccinated.

“The message is clear,” says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross, “new moms and moms-to-be should get a flu vaccine. It is safe, and it will protect both you and your baby.”