A CDC study provides further evidence that Tdap vaccination during pregnancy helps protect newborns from whooping cough during their first two months of life, when they are most vulnerable to the disease.
Study researchers have looked at U.S. population level trends in infant whooping cough cases since this maternal vaccination strategy began in 2011. Newborn whooping cough rates decreased significantly since the introduction of maternal Tdap vaccination. When given during the third trimester of pregnancy, Tdap vaccination prevents more than three in four cases of whooping cough in infants younger than two months old.
The CDC recommends that women should get vaccinated during the third trimester of each pregnancy to boost their antibodies and pass those antibodies on to their infants. All people in close contact with infants should be up to date with their whooping cough vaccines.
