Irish Wedding News
14/02/2014
Small babies are especially vulnerable to catching infections as their immune system has not yet produced the antibodies to fight off diseases, and they might not be protected until their first set of recommended injections from the age of two months onwards.
However, vaccinating women during their pregnancy could help protect their unborn babies from infections when they are still very young, because when a pregnant woman is vaccinated, she produces protective antibodies that can be transferred to her child in the womb through the placenta. These antibodies remain in the baby for up to six months after birth.
Currently, the flu vaccine is one of those recommended for pregnant women, but concerns have been raised that for some infections, high levels of certain antibodies present at birth could reduce a baby's own antibody responses when they receive their first vaccine.
Professor Beate Kampmann, from the Department of Paediatrics at Imperial College, explained: "We really need to get a better grasp of which vaccines can safely be given to mothers in pregnancy."
Professor Kampmann and her colleagues carried out a study, of which the findings have been published in the journal Vaccine, to find out whether maternal immunisation could be recommenced for different infectious diseases that are dangerous for babies.
The three infections the team looked at was pertussis, pneumococcus and haemophilus B.
For the research, the team followed 61 mothers and babies over a period of several months, taking blood samples from both the mother and the baby at birth. They then asked the mothers and the babies to come back after the infants had received the three doses of their recommended baby vaccines at two, three and four months of age.
The team measured the level of antibodies each baby had received naturally from its mother, and whether there were differences in their response to their own vaccines at a later stage. The mothers had not received vaccines during their pregnancy, but had antibodies due to natural infection earlier in their lives or following their own vaccinations in childhood.
The experiment found that all the vaccinated babies had the right level of protection from their jabs, regardless of the level of antibodies provided by the mother. However, it also revealed that some of the mother's had low antibodies to pass onto their child.
Professor Kampmann continued: "These are very promising results. We are excited to continue further trials with women who have received vaccines now recommended during pregnancy and assess the effect of maternal vaccination on the responses in their babies."
(JP/CD)
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New Immunisation Programme For Pregnant Women
Researchers from Imperial College London are developing a new immunisation programme to protect pregnant women and their babies, a statement from the organisation has said.Small babies are especially vulnerable to catching infections as their immune system has not yet produced the antibodies to fight off diseases, and they might not be protected until their first set of recommended injections from the age of two months onwards.
However, vaccinating women during their pregnancy could help protect their unborn babies from infections when they are still very young, because when a pregnant woman is vaccinated, she produces protective antibodies that can be transferred to her child in the womb through the placenta. These antibodies remain in the baby for up to six months after birth.
Currently, the flu vaccine is one of those recommended for pregnant women, but concerns have been raised that for some infections, high levels of certain antibodies present at birth could reduce a baby's own antibody responses when they receive their first vaccine.
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Professor Beate Kampmann, from the Department of Paediatrics at Imperial College, explained: "We really need to get a better grasp of which vaccines can safely be given to mothers in pregnancy."
Professor Kampmann and her colleagues carried out a study, of which the findings have been published in the journal Vaccine, to find out whether maternal immunisation could be recommenced for different infectious diseases that are dangerous for babies.
The three infections the team looked at was pertussis, pneumococcus and haemophilus B.
For the research, the team followed 61 mothers and babies over a period of several months, taking blood samples from both the mother and the baby at birth. They then asked the mothers and the babies to come back after the infants had received the three doses of their recommended baby vaccines at two, three and four months of age.
The team measured the level of antibodies each baby had received naturally from its mother, and whether there were differences in their response to their own vaccines at a later stage. The mothers had not received vaccines during their pregnancy, but had antibodies due to natural infection earlier in their lives or following their own vaccinations in childhood.
The experiment found that all the vaccinated babies had the right level of protection from their jabs, regardless of the level of antibodies provided by the mother. However, it also revealed that some of the mother's had low antibodies to pass onto their child.
Professor Kampmann continued: "These are very promising results. We are excited to continue further trials with women who have received vaccines now recommended during pregnancy and assess the effect of maternal vaccination on the responses in their babies."
(JP/CD)
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