Azziz-Baumgartner E, Veguilla V, Calvo A, Franco D, Dominguez R, Rauda R, Armero J, Hall AJ, Pascale JM, Gonzalez R. Incidence of influenza and other respiratory viruses among pregnant women; a multi-country, multiyear cohort.
Int J Gynaecol Obstet 2021;
158:359-367. [PMID:
34767628 PMCID:
PMC9543610 DOI:
10.1002/ijgo.14018]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
To quantify rates of influenza illness and assess value of influenza vaccination among pregnant women in Panama and El Salvador.
METHODS
Pregnant women were enrolled and followed each week in a prospective cohort study to identify acute respiratory infections (ARI). Nasopharyngeal swabs obtained from women with febrile ARI were tested by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction for influenza and other respiratory viruses.
RESULTS
We enrolled 2,556 women between October 2014-April 2017. Sixteen percent developed at least one ARI; 59 had two ARI, and five had three ARI for a total of 463 ARI. Women in El Salvador and Panama contributed 297 person-years (py) and 293py, respectively, during influenza circulation. Twenty-one (11%) of 196 sampled women tested positive for influenza. Influenza incidence was 5.0/100py (4.3/100py in Panama and 5.7/100py in El Salvador). Only 13% of women in El Salvador and 43% in Panama had been vaccinated against influenza before influenza epidemics (p<0.0001).
CONCLUSIONS
One in six pregnant women developed ARI and more than one in ten ARI were attributable to vaccine-preventable influenza. While women were at risk of influenza, few had vaccinated before each epidemic. Such findings suggest the utility of evaluations to optimize vaccine timing and coverage.
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