Pregnancy Flu Shot Protects Baby

Pregnant women who get a flu shot can protect their babies too, a study suggests. This could help babies under age 6 months, in particular. Flu vaccine is not recommended for these babies because it hasn’t been proven safe for them. The study included 340 women and their babies. Half received a flu shot while pregnant. The others did not get shots. Researchers kept track of the women for 24 weeks after the births. Babies born to women who got flu shots were 63% less likely to get flu. They also had lower rates of other respiratory illness. HealthDay News wrote about the study September 17. It was published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.