Pregnant Women May Not Have Safety Risks With Common Travel Vaccines

Researchers examined data from trials of common travel vaccines and found high-quality evidence that two - the flu vaccine and the Tdap vaccine (against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) - are safe for pregnant women and their babies

Many common travel vaccines don’t have known safety risks for pregnant women, although a research review also suggests that evidence is limited for some inoculations.

Researchers examined data from trials of common travel vaccines and found high quality evidence that two - the flu vaccine and the Tdap vaccine (against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) - are safe for pregnant women and their babies.

Beyond these two vaccines, researchers found moderate or low quality evidence that there are no safety issues with several other common travel vaccines: meningococcus, yellow fever, rubella, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rabies and polio.

“Overwhelming evidence supports the safety of influenza and Tdap vaccines during pregnancy,” lead study author Dr Roni Nasser of Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, Israel, and colleagues write.