Does Maternal Influenza Vaccination During Pregnancy Have Adverse Childhood Effects?

Although professional societies recommend that pregnant women receive inactivated seasonal influenza vaccine, concerns that in utero exposure to flu vaccine might cause long-term adverse sequelae in offspring have triggered vaccination hesitancy among some women and clinicians. Investigators conducted a retrospective, population-based cohort study in Nova Scotia, Canada, to assess the risks of a broad range of adverse health outcomes among children born to vaccinated versus unvaccinated women between 2010 and 2014. To address confounding, a number of maternal parameters were included in propensity scores.

Among >28,000 children, 36.2% were born to mothers who received flu vaccine during pregnancy. Vaccinated mothers were more likely to be 35…