Different perspectives of immunizations during pregnancy

Abstract

Background/aim: Pregnant women and infants are at risk of severe lower respiratory tract infections induced by influenza or pertussis. The uptake of both vaccines is poor in spite of proven benefits and safety. We aimed to determine the knowledge and attitude of pregnant women and their primary healthcare providers towards immunization during pregnancy. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional and interventional study was conducted in northern Turkey in 2016. It had 3 different groups including 786 pregnant women, 146 primary healthcare staff, and 97 family practitioners. Different questionnaires were filled by each group. The intervention phase of the study consisted of education of the expectant mothers about immunizations during pregnancy. Results: 786 pregnant women aged between 17-44 years were enrolled to the study. Most of the participants had favourable attitude about vaccination, but only 1.1% had influenza immunization, none had Tdap immunization. None of the participants joining the intervention stage were immunized. The healthcare staff and family physicians had knowledge about vaccinations, but had abstention for administration. Postexposure prophylaxis was also provided by referral centres. Conclusions: Most of the participants either pregnant women or healthcare workers were not vaccinated against pertussis and influenza. Dissemination of maternal immunization must be supported by the team work of healthcare professionals, authorities, universities, professional associations, stake holders, media and patients with current, evidence based knowledge.

New targets for Turkish childhood national immunization schedule

“…Tdap is a new vaccine in the Turkish market. In many studies, it is the least recommended vaccine because the knowledge and experience about it is limited [5,21]. Although Tdap is recommended as the last dose of Td in childhoodadolescent and pregnancy immunization schedules in developed countries [22], pertussis was not considered a primary healthcare problem [5].…”

“…In the USA, it is recommended to all children [22]. In Turkey, influenza is under the cover of social security insurance in chronically ill people and the recommendation of the vaccine is usually limited with this population [21]. It is recommended to healthcare workers, too; the acceptance rate was under 50% even in the pandemic season due to disbelief in the necessity of vaccination, concerns about adverse effects, inability to get vaccinated, debates about the vaccine [23].…”

Comparison of Bordetella pertussis Antibody Levels in Pregnant Women and Umbilical Cord Blood: A Multicenter Study

“…12,13 However, in a study conducted in our country, it was observed that none of the 786 pregnant women evaluated did not receive pertussis vaccination. 14 In another study, the rate of those who wanted to have pertussis vaccination in case it was recommended during pregnancy was found to be 11.2%. 15 None of the 396 pregnant women in our study had received pertussis vaccination during pregnancy.…”

Knowledge, Attitude, Perceptions, and Concerns of Pregnant Women Regarding the Influenza Vaccination in Kocaeli, Turkey

“…As a strength, this is one of a few studies conducted in Turkey to reflect the attitudes of pregnant women toward influenza vaccination [9,[25][26][27][28]. It provides useful information for national and foreign health policymakers on the current status of and the factors related to pregnant women's personal and parental hesitancy on influenza vaccination in Turkey and to make comparisons.…”

“…Our results showed that approximately half of the pregnant women (46.0%) were not aware of the existence of an influenza vaccine. In a cross-sectional study carried out with 786 participants in Northern Turkey in 2016, 31.6% of pregnant women had never heard of the influenza vaccine [9]. In some countries, the most important obstacle to influenza vaccination is lack of knowledge: in a study conducted in Japan, unawareness of influenza vaccination in pregnancy (13%), although much lower than in Turkey, was significantly related to vaccine uptake, which gives rise to the thought that it is probably true for Turkey [10].…”