Vaccinations during pregnancy?

[jolie-fleur]

I'm due in less than two weeks. I am giving my 4yo DS2 (who is entirely unvaccinated) his first ever dose of Daptacel in the next few days as my research indicates that it will (slightly) decrease the risk that my infant (who I will not vax for at least several years) will contract Pertussis.  

My health provider "advises" that I get the TDaP.  I assume this is the same as DTaP?

What does this do for a pregnant woman?  I don't know any of the research!  Any advice welcome.

Thank you!

[sosurreal09]

Seriously I am TERRIFIED of this whole new vax during pregnancy thing. If you want to vax your child power to you, but I would never ever get a vax while pregnant.

Just another round of guinea pigs....IMO.

[Mirzam]

I would never have any vaccinations while pregnant, ever. I am not commenting on you deciding to vax your older child, that is your business and choice.

This article might be of interest:

Fetal Immune System Welcomes Invaders: Explanation for Miscarriages and Asthma?

and this series of articles by Hilary Butler:

Vaccines and neonatal immune development

How a baby fights infection and develops the immune system

Can vaccines become cranial and immunological cluster bombs?

[jolie-fleur]

Thank you for posting those articles.  I want to read  as  much of the research as possible.

[nia82]

If you feel that your family could benefit from Tdap, do it after birth. It is rather new that it is administered to pregnant women and I personally after research and such links as above do not believe vaccines during pregnancy are safe.

As for the Tdap, I yet have to believe that it stops transmission, as the shot isn't designed to do so (it's a toxoid vaccine that helps your body to cope with pertussis toxins, but doesn't create titers against the actual bacteria causing the disease). I can see how it mitigates the disease and hence you are less likely to pass it on, but still... Just my opinion. I won't be getting it until 10 years have passed since my last DT. I'm not willing to do this earlier due to concerning reactions when you get too many T shots too close together. But I wouldn't banking on it protecting other people than myself.

[ma2two]

The following is taken from the Tdap vaccine package insert.  http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/UCM152842.pdf (pages 12-13)

"Pregnancy Category C: Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with BOOSTRIX. It is also not known whether BOOSTRIX can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. 

"Pregnancy Registry: GlaxoSmithKline maintains a surveillance registry to collect data on pregnancy outcomes and newborn health status outcomes following vaccination with BOOSTRIX during pregnancy. Women who receive BOOSTRIX during pregnancy should be encouraged to contact GlaxoSmithKline directly or their healthcare provider should contact GlaxoSmithKline by calling 1-888-452-9622."

 

The Adacel brand says the same thing in its package insert, page 13. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM142764.pdf

[emmy526]

Originally Posted by ma2two 

The following is taken from the Tdap vaccine package insert.  http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/UCM152842.pdf (pages 12-13)

"Pregnancy Category C: Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with BOOSTRIX. It is also not known whether BOOSTRIX can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. 

"Pregnancy Registry: GlaxoSmithKline maintains a surveillance registry to collect data on pregnancy outcomes and newborn health status outcomes following vaccination with BOOSTRIX during pregnancy. Women who receive BOOSTRIX during pregnancy should be encouraged to contact GlaxoSmithKline directly or their healthcare provider should contact GlaxoSmithKline by calling 1-888-452-9622."

 

The Adacel brand says the same thing in its package insert, page 13. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM142764.pdf

sounds like poisoning the fetus in the womb to me...

[hildare]

i wouldn't.  i didn't even know they would encourage you to do so.  though when i had dd in the hospital, as part of the checkout health reminders about things like caring for the cord, my bleeding, etc. they suggested strongly that i get it then, but that was postpartum.  (and i didn't)  since you're so close to your due date, could your health care provider be encouraging you to get it then and not now and not communicating that clearly?  i know that's a "thing" they do with new moms as some sort of vax campaign.

[nia82]

Hildare, I thought so too at first, but I heard this recently from many different pregnant mamas. TDaP is now recommended DURING pregnancy and no longer postpartum (of course they still would offer it then if not gotten in pregnancy) by ACIP. It's somewhat odd to me.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ACIP/27245

[jupitermama]

I had my baby on June 15 and at one of my prenatal appts the head ob (I go to a group practice) said I should get the Tdap booster.  I smiled and took his printouts about "Do it for your baby" that was printed from the vaccine manufacturer but in my head I was thinking "Tdap while pregnant??  This guy is crazy!"  At the time I looked up the recommendations and it was recommended if a pregnant woman needed a tetanus booster she get the Td, NOT the one containing pertussis.  Now all of a sudden the recommendation is that pregnant women get the Tdap??  Even though there are NO studies on pregnant women receiving this vaccination??  Where is the SCIENCE in this, I wonder...Anywho, I elected to NOT get this vax while I was pregnant!

[MamatobabyA]

My son is vaxd fully and on schedule.  I got the flu shot while pregnant.  There is no way I would be getting TDaP while pregnant.  If you are concerned get your booster after delivery.

[Marnica]

What floors me is that these blanket recommendations are made with no science to back them up. The same can be said of flu shots during pregnancy.

Most vaccines are Category C in pregnant women meaning there are NO SAFETY STUDIES. A few of the flu shots are Category B which means there are only animal (usually mice or rabbits) studies but no adequate studies on humans. Sorry IMO not good enough. I would never get a vaccine while pregnant. I agree with PP's. If you really think the TDaP will protect your baby (that is a whole other discussion!) then why not wait a couple of weeks and get it after you deliver?

[erigeron]

Originally Posted by Marnica 

Most vaccines are Category C in pregnant women meaning there are NO SAFETY STUDIES. A few of the flu shots are Category B which means there are only animal (usually mice or rabbits) studies but no adequate studies on humans.

This isn't an accurate explanation of pregnancy categories and is kind of alarmist IMO.

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfCFR/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=201.57 (about halfway down... it's kind of long, but I am in favor of going straight to the source).

Category C means there is not conclusive data in humans and adverse effects shown in animals. Category B means *either* that animal studies don't show risk and there are no studies in humans, *or* that studies in animals show birth defects but studies in humans show no adverse consequences.

A *lot* of drugs (vaccines are drugs) are Category C because it is hard to get data. Who would want to participate in that trial? It would be hard to get approval to conduct such trials, let alone find people to participate. Data typically has to be gathered through retrospective studies of people who took the drug. 

I am not saying do or don't take a Category C drug, but I think it's important to understand that so many drugs are designated as Category C because of a lack of data, and this is in large part simply an artifact of the fact that it's hard to conduct studies on pregnant women compared to other populations. This is by no means limited to vaccines.

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by erigeron 

This isn't an accurate explanation of pregnancy categories and is kind of alarmist IMO.

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfCFR/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=201.57 (about halfway down... it's kind of long, but I am in favor of going straight to the source).

Category C means there is not conclusive data in humans and adverse effects shown in animals. Category B means *either* that animal studies don't show risk and there are no studies in humans, *or* that studies in animals show birth defects but studies in humans show no adverse consequences.

A *lot* of drugs (vaccines are drugs) are Category C because it is hard to get data. Who would want to participate in that trial? It would be hard to get approval to conduct such trials, let alone find people to participate. Data typically has to be gathered through retrospective studies of people who took the drug. 

I am not saying do or don't take a Category C drug, but I think it's important to understand that so many drugs are designated as Category C because of a lack of data, and this is in large part simply an artifact of the fact that it's hard to conduct studies on pregnant women compared to other populations. This is by no means limited to vaccines.

semantics IMO. Category C = lack of conclusive data in humans = no adequate safety studies which is basically what I said in the first place.
 

[erigeron]

Your explanation of category B was incomplete.