Abstract
Introduction
Pertussis vaccination in pregnancy is a safe and highly effective strategy to protect young infants against severe pertussis, but cases continue to occur. In November 2023, the authors of this paper met to discuss difficulties faced by pertussis vaccination programs in pregnant women in Europe, and the need and potential for new vaccines.
Areas covered
We summarize current pertussis epidemiology, the status of pertussis vaccination in pregnancy in Europe, followed by a summary of the meeting on benefits of pertussis-only vaccines and pertussis vaccines with improved immunogenicity, including a review of available vaccines.
Expert opinion
Ongoing surveillance and registers documenting vaccine uptake in pregnant women are important to monitor changes in pertussis epidemiology and estimated effectiveness of maternal pertussis vaccination programs in individual countries. While current programs have been effective, Tdap or Tdap-IPV combined vaccines are not the ideal choice but are the only vaccines available for pertussis immunization in pregnancy in Europe. Pertussis-only vaccine would avoid exposing women to unnecessary tetanus and diphtheria boosters in every pregnancy. Recombinant pertussis vaccines with higher immunogenicity could prolong passive immune protection against pertussis in young infants.
Pertussis vaccination in pregnancy is a safe and highly effective strategy to protect young infants against severe pertussis, but cases continue to occur. In November 2023, the authors of this paper met to discuss difficulties faced by pertussis vaccination programs in pregnant women in Europe, and the need and potential for new vaccines.
Areas covered
We summarize current pertussis epidemiology, the status of pertussis vaccination in pregnancy in Europe, followed by a summary of the meeting on benefits of pertussis-only vaccines and pertussis vaccines with improved immunogenicity, including a review of available vaccines.
Expert opinion
Ongoing surveillance and registers documenting vaccine uptake in pregnant women are important to monitor changes in pertussis epidemiology and estimated effectiveness of maternal pertussis vaccination programs in individual countries. While current programs have been effective, Tdap or Tdap-IPV combined vaccines are not the ideal choice but are the only vaccines available for pertussis immunization in pregnancy in Europe. Pertussis-only vaccine would avoid exposing women to unnecessary tetanus and diphtheria boosters in every pregnancy. Recombinant pertussis vaccines with higher immunogenicity could prolong passive immune protection against pertussis in young infants.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 175-182 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Expert Review of Vaccines |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 14 Mar 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords
- recombinant vaccine
- pertussis
- Europe
- pregnancy
- maternal immunization
- vaccination
- Pertussis-only vaccine
- Acellular pertussis vaccine
