An Advisory Committee statement (ACS) : Update on pertussis vaccination in pregnancy

Please refer to the remainder of the Statement for details 1. What Bordetella pertussis is a respiratory pathogen which has the heaviest burden of mortality and morbidity in the first 6 months of life. [...] METHODS The Pertussis Working Group reviewed the key questions for the literature review as proposed by NACI, including such considerations as the burden of disease to be prevented and any evidence of change in the burden amongst different populations; safety, immunogenicity, efficacy, and effectiveness of the vaccines; vaccine schedules; and other aspects of the overall immunization strategy. [...] In the Klein et al study (2012), after the fifth dose of DTaP, the odds of acquiring pertussis increased by an average of 42% per year in those vaccinated over 5 years before.(32) Misegades et al (2012) also investigated the vaccine effectiveness (VE) in children after receipt of five doses of pertussis containing vaccine. [...] The half-life of transferred maternal pertussis antibodies has been estimated to be between 5 and 6 weeks and the majority of infants will not have any detectable maternal pertussis antibodies by the age of 2 to 6 months.(44)(47) Does transplacental transfer of pertussis antibody from mother to child interfere with the infant immune response to the active pertussis immunization primary series? [...] In the few cases of the reported congenital anomalies, no pattern of anomaly was observed and the role of the vaccine was considered unlikely.