If you will be attempting pregnancy, are currently pregnant or breastfeeding, Virginia Women’s Center recommends you receive the Tdap vaccine if you have never had it before. The Tdap vaccine can help prevent pertussis, also called whooping cough.
Beginning Monday, January 7, 2013, Virginia Women’s Center health care providers will have the Tdap vaccine available for our patients who have never received it before. Pregnant patients who wish to receive the Tdap vaccine will be vaccinated at an appointment after 20 weeks gestation.
What is pertussis?
Pertussis, also called whooping cough, is a highly contagious disease that causes severe coughing. People with pertussis may make a “whooping” sound when they try to breathe. In newborns, pertussis can be a life-threatening illness. It can be prevented with a vaccine called Tdap.
Who should receive a Tdap vaccine?
- Women who are pregnant and have never received a Tdap vaccine before should receive it after 20 weeks gestation. The Tdap vaccine will protect the mother and baby from serious illness and the complications of pertussis.
- Women who did not receive the vaccine during pregnancy should receive it immediately after the baby is born.
- Women who are breastfeeding and who did not receive the vaccine during pregnancy or immediately postpartum.
- Women who have never received a Tdap vaccine before and who are planning pregnancy or who may become pregnant.
- Family members and/or caregivers of newborns who have never received a Tdap vaccine should receive it at least two weeks prior to having contact with a baby.
- Patients with an unknown or uncertain Tdap vaccination status are considered unvaccinated and are therefore eligible to receive the vaccine.
What are the risks of pertussis in infants?
In 2010, 27,550 cases of pertussis were reported in the United States; 3,350 of those cases were in infants younger than 6 months of age – 25 of those infants died. Studies have shown that when the source of pertussis was identified, mothers were responsible for 30 to 40 percent of infant infections.
Pertussis can cause serious and sometimes life-threatening complications in infants, especially within the first six months of life. In infants younger than one year of age who get pertussis, more than half must be hospitalized. The younger the infant, the more likely treatment in the hospital will be needed. Of those infants who are hospitalized with pertussis, about one in five will get pneumonia and one in 100 will die.
How can pertussis be prevented in infants?
There are currently no pertussis vaccines licensed or recommended for newborns at birth. The best way to prevent pertussis in a young infant is by vaccinating the mother during pregnancy. When a mother is vaccinated with Tdap during pregnancy, her infant will gain pertussis antibodies during the most vulnerable time – before three months of age. Infants are able to be vaccinated against pertussis at two months of age.
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