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The historical aspects of vaccination in pregnancy

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2020.09.005Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The development and uptake of vaccines has been driven by public health crises across many decades.

  • Vaccination prior to conception and during pregnancy reduces preventable mortality and morbidity.

  • The pandemics of history offer insights that can inform future vaccine development and uptake.

  • History reminds us of the importance of collaborative surveillance systems for pregnant women.

  • Vaccination history highlights the imperative for pregnant women to be included in clinical trials.

Abstract

As we live through the history-making pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), it is timely to consider the lessons that history has taught us about vaccine-preventable disease in pregnancy. Vaccinations have earned an established place in pregnancy care to prevent communicable disease in the mother, fetus and newborn. The improvements in maternal and perinatal outcome have been achieved through the evolution and application of new knowledge in many areas. These include recognition of the unique pathogenic consequences of diseases in pregnancy; improved understanding of the maternal immune system and its interplay with the fetus; optimizing safe vaccine development; ensuring pregnant women are included in appropriately designed trials of efficacy, and public health engagement to optimize uptake. As the world eagerly awaits an effective vaccine for COVID 19, these lessons of history help signpost the way, to ensure the potential of vaccinations to reduce morbidity for pregnant women and their newborns is fully realized.

Keywords

Vaccines
Pregnancy
Influenza
Rubella
Tetanus
Pertussis

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