Influenza Vaccination in Pregnancy: Current Practices in a Suburban Community

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Figure 1.
Administration of influenza vaccine during pregnancy as reported by practice type. FP: family physician; OB: obstetrician.
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Figure 2.
Frequencies of patient request and receipt of influence vaccination during pregnancy as reported by practice type. FP: family physician; OB: obstetrician.

Table 1.

Candidates for Influenza Vaccination

High risk

All persons over 65 years old

All persons in long-term care facilities

All persons over 6 months old with chronic illness

Disorders of pulmonary or cardiovascular systems (eg, asthma)

Chronic metabolic diseases (eg, diabetes mellitus)

Renal dysfunction

Hemoglobinopathies

Immunosuppression (eg, HIV)

Children 6 months to 18 years old on long-term aspirin therapy

Healthy children 6 to 23 months old

Household contacts of children under 2 years old

Women who will be in their second or third trimester during influenza season

Health care workers

Household contacts of other high-risk persons

Other

Anyone without contraindications wishing to decrease their probability of infection

Vaccine contraindications

Severe allergy to any vaccine component

Allergy to egg

Allergy to thimerosal

Allergic reaction to prior vaccine administration

Moderate to severe acute illness

Table 2.

Perceived Relative Contraindications to the Administration of Influenza Vaccine during Pregnancy

Condition	‘Relative Contraindication’ Response		Overall	P value
Condition	Family Physicians	Obstetricians	Overall	P value
First trimester	63.2% (36/57)	64.7% (11/17)	63.5%	.573
Second trimester	5.4% (3/56)	0% (0/17)	4.1%	.446
Third trimester	8.8% (5/57)	0% (0/18)	6.7%	.243
Gestational diabetes	3.6% (2/56)	0% (0/17)	2.7%	.586
Pregnancy-induced hypertension	11.1% (6/54)	6.7% (1/15)	10.1%	.523
Advanced maternal age	5.8% (3/52)	0% (0/17)	4.3%	.422
Maternal heart disease	1.7% (1/58)	0% (0/19)	1.3%	.753
Maternal lung disease	1.7% (1/58)	0% (0/19)	1.3%	.753
History of preterm labor	15.7% (8/51)	5.9% (1/17)	13.2%	.281
History of intrauterine fetal demise	14.6% (7/48)	0% (0/15)	11.1%	.133