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AusVaxSafety study reassures about maternal vaccination safety

A large study by AusVaxSafety, Australia’s participant-based active vaccine safety surveillance system, has provided reassuring data on the safety of influenza and pertussis vaccination during pregnancy.

Maternal vaccination is important to protect both mother and baby, but perceived safety concerns have led to low uptake. This study, published in Vaccine, analysed adverse events following immunisation with influenza vaccine and reduced antigen diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (dTpa) vaccine in more than 13,500 pregnant women over 3 years. It was found that the majority of adverse events reported were injection site reactions such as pain, swelling or redness.

An important concern associated with maternal vaccination is fever, and this study found the incidence of fever to be low and that only 0.5% of participants sought medical attention for their adverse event. The results were similar for those who received influenza vaccine alone or influenza and dTpa vaccines at the same time. The study also found no difference in reported adverse event rates based on influenza vaccine brand or the trimester of pregnancy.

As the ongoing surveillance by AusVaxSafety survey a large number of pregnant women, AusVaxSafety active vaccine safety surveillance in pregnancy fills in a crucial role in post-licensure vaccine pharmacovigilance in Australia.  

Read more here

Access AusVaxSafety pregnancy vaccination surveillance data here

Refer also to AusVaxSafety study on safety of influenza vaccines