Second-hand flu vaccinations
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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
Babies of mothers who get flu vaccinations seem to pick up protection in the womb. A study found this in data on 1,500 babies younger than 6 months who had been hospitalized for flu-like symptoms in the 2002 to 2009 flu seasons. Those babies are too young for their own vaccination.
At Wake Forest University, Kathy Poehling says babies were less likely to have the flu if their mothers had been vaccinated while pregnant. So she advises mothers to get vaccinated:
``Not only do they personally benefit, but there's additional benefits for their children.'' (4 seconds)
The study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.
Learn more at hhs.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.