A UK study examining the safety of pertussis vaccination in pregnancy found no evidence of an increased risk of any of an extensive predefined list of adverse events related to pregnancy for women given pertussis vaccination in the third trimester. Two studies using different methods have each shown that babies born to mothers vaccinated at least seven days before delivery had a reduced risk of pertussis disease, of around 90%, in their first few weeks of life when compared with babies whose mothers had not been vaccinated. In June 2014 the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) considered available data relating to the coverage, effectiveness and safety of the programme, its impact on disease and current epidemiology and advised that the programme should continue for a further five years. This includes the continuation of all surveillance activities introduced to monitor the programme.
- Background paper
- Europe
- United Kingdom
- Pertussis
