Whooping Cough Vaccine during pregnancy

sunshiner

i Had a discussion tonight with a friend of mine who is also pregnant she was advised to get the whooping vaccine from her gp and is unsure whether to get it. Her gp had no information to give her and just said it was untested in pregnant women. Its to given to women between 24- 32 weeks, in the uk its given 24 - 38 weeks. I
There is no single whooping cough vaccine, its a combination vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus and polio. With little to no research or advise being given im reluctant to take it,im 32 weeks pregnant. In the u.k they have also said to give to women who recently gave birth to pass on antibodies through breastmilk, I would be more up for going along that route.

Here is the list of ingredients for the dtap vaccine: Aluminum Phosphate, Ammonium Sulfate, Aluminum Potassium Sulfate, Thimerosal [a vaccine preservative that is approximately 50% mercury by weight] Formaldehyde or Formalin, Glutaraldehye, 2-Phoenoxyethanol, Dimethyl-betacyclodextrin, Sodium Phosphate, Polysorbate 80.

Heres a link to the NHS website it seems to have more info than ireland
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/Pages/whooping-cough-vaccination-pregnant.aspx#Why

Gps are offering the vaccine from anything form €30 to €60 euro,its not free. What are everyones thoughts on it?have you been advised to take it?

LoopyLolly88

Im 25 weeks & havent been offered this yet,tbh i dont think ill get it if it is offered. The fact it cant be tested on pregnant women & theres not much info on it really puts me off it.

Nead21

Although i was aware of it neither my gp or consultant mentioned it and i was very unsure about it. I did get the flu vaccine.

With such little research i was glad i didnt get it in the end.

NextSteps

I got it. My doctor explained that there is no risk from it, and it will protect my baby from whooping cough, which can be very serious indeed for small babies. I was happy with that.

I can't understand the HSE though, they recommend it but provide no literature whatsoever about the vaccine and have no information campaign. Seems very silly.

MurdyWurdy

I asked my GP about it (at 30 weeks pregnant). He was trying to be diplomatic about it and not say it explicitly but basically he doesn't recommend it. He doesn't like giving anything to pregnant women (he was very cautious when I had hyperemesis and didn't want to give medication) and he said that there have been no cases of whooping cough come in to him since January and as my baby will be born in June he didn't think it was worth the risk. I thought about it and decided not to get it in the end., that the benefits didn't outweigh the risks (which are relatively unknown at this stage). Each to their own though, I understand if you want to get it.

On a side note, all the cases of whopping cough he saw this winter were adults which I thought was interesting.

Hobbitfeet

This vaccine has never been tested in pregnant women, there is no way of knowing whether or not it is safe. There is also no way of knowing if it will actually protect your baby from whopping cough as there has been no trials on pregnant women, we have just no idea what could happen. Also don't forget that its not just a whopping cough vaccine your getting its also tetanus, diptheria. This vaccine also has the highest rate of reported adverse reactions and side effects, much higher than any other vaccine.

Couchkitten

My GP was very for it, It is very serious if your baby gets whooping cough, two babies have died from recently. However after doing some reading I have decided against it, mostly because it a new recommendation and therefore not properly tested.

However, my GP gave me another option that seemed good. Both myself and my partner can get the vaccination after birth. This will prevent us getting the whooping cough and passing it on. Also, the antibodies that develop in my system will pass through my breast-milk and offer some (but not as much as vaccination would) protection to the baby.

She also told us to be vigilante about people visiting who are suffering from a cough....looks like we are going to be one of those mental new parents who insist on the alcohol hand cleaner before anyone holds the baby!

Hobbitfeet

I just read this research article about whopping cough and the vaccine for it. Very interesting reading for anyone worried about whopping cough or trying to decide whether to get the vaccine or not http://www.cidd.psu.edu/research/synopses/acellular-vaccine-enhancement-b.-parapertussis