Immunization for Newborn's Parents

(September 14, 2008) - Giving the parents of a newborn a shot just might keep the newborn from getting sick. A recent study took a look at giving parents of high risk infants a vaccination for tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis. That's the vaccine better known as DTaP. The study was trying to ascertain if the pertussis or whooping cough, portion of the vaccine would help protect the newborns. (Read about "Immunizations" "Childhood Illnesses")

Immunizing parents while they're in the hospital caring for a newborn is an effective way to prevent the transmission of pertussis, or whooping cough, to vulnerable infants, according to the study, "Administration of Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Acellular Pertussis Vaccine to Parents of High-Risk Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit." It appeared in Pediatrics, the peer-reviewed, scientific journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

Infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) who have chronic respiratory illness often have immature airways, making them particularly susceptible to respiratory diseases such as pertussis. (Read about "Respiratory System") If they contract pertussis, these infants are hospitalized at a rate of three to seven times more often than other children.

A major source of disease transmission is individuals in close contact with the infants, especially the new parents.

This study examined a new method to increase adult vaccination rates for pertussis to create a "cocoon" of immunity around the infant. (Read about "The Immune System") An information sheet explaining the dangers of pertussis and the benefits of vaccination was placed at the infant's bedside in the NICU.

This program resulted in an overall vaccination rate of 86.9 percent (430) of the informed parents. The authors state that immunizing parents while they are in the hospital caring for a newborn is an effective method of increasing adult vaccination rates and preventing the spread of disease to newborns and infants.