14wks pregnant should I have flu and whooping cough vaccines?

[AlphaBeta82]

Keep hearing a lot about both but neither doctor or midwife have mentioned?
Have others had the jabs and is whooping cough a new one as I didn't have it with DS.

[RooneyMara]

Ooh perhaps you can answer a q for me, if you've a minute? (don't worry if you haven't!)

When I spoke to the nurse who gave me the WC one, about the flu one, she said definitely have it as that too will protect the baby from flu.

I had not heard this reason before - is it true? Obviously they don't give tiny babies the flu jab - do they? So should I have it for that reason even if I'm not too worried about getting it in my last 5 weeks of pg?

Thanks anyone who can advise.

[Suze77]

Thanks ardakyrose. I had whooping cough when I was six, lots of kids in my class were off school for weeks with it, and my asthmatic sister (who was three at the time) spent about a week in hospital with it. I didn't know there was a vaccine around at the time. I always thought all natural immunity was lifelong.

[noblegiraffe]

It looks like the vast majority of cases are in the over 15 category because if you think about it, the majority of people are over 15. The other categories are broken down quite finely by age so there'll be fewer people in each of those categories getting WC even if whooping cough is spread evenly throughout the population.

That said, you might expect to see it more in the over 15s as immunity wears off, but the figures are less reliable as you are more likely to take your child to the doctor with a cough. I think many adults don't even realise what they've had.

[AlphaBeta82]

Hi Rooney,
My understanding is you need to have flu as it is not the flu that necessary causes problems for unborn babies but the rise in the mothers temperature which causes the issue. Obviously not great for a newborn to have flu but easier to manage (I thin! - I am no medical professional!)

[ArkadyRose]

Suze77 Sadly no; whether naturally-acquired or vaccinated, not all immunity is permanent. If you keep coming in contact with the virus in question then your body will keep the relevant antibodies up to date; the problem with WC is that the vaccination program has been perhaps a little too efficient - so we just don't come in contact with the virus after vaccination as much as we did, say, 20 years ago. So the body stops producing the antibodies after a while, and then when we do come in contact with it we just don't have the immunity any more. As an adult, once the immunity has lapsed we're vulnerable to WC in the form of 90-day cough which can have other complications such as pleurisy etc.

The TB vaccine is another one that wears off - usually after 8-15 years.

[mosschops30]

I know very little about the WC vaccine but if i was pg i woukd have it.

Flu can be awful in pg women, i worked on ITU and saw some tragic cases of flu in pg women
i had the pandemrix vaccine at the height of the swine flu nightmare, and am so glad i did.

Please protect yourself and your baby, we are so lucky to be provided with all this free protection.

[EugenesAxeChoppedDownANiceTree]

Haven't read all but a paediatrician being interviewed on 5Live yesterday (they had a feature on WC) said in the 3rd trimester a lot of antibodies from the mother pass into the foetus to offer some protection in the early weeks/months and that's why WC is given then. He also said that as the foetus is largely developed by then - it's fleshing out what's already there in the main - the risks in terms of malformations or anything of that ilk are very low.

He also said WC is worse now because in the past a lot of people got immunity from having it, and this lasts longer than a vaccination-based immunity. Although as scissy says, he did also say that even naturally acquired immunity wears off eventually.

[AlphaBeta82]

Hi All,
GP phoned me theis morning to say they had more vaccines in and to pop down to have it done. I hate injections and kept expecting pain until nurse said ok you can go now and to my surprise she'd already done it!
Now why can't labour be that simple!!!

[Quack3rs]

Not true about the whopping cough vaccine! I've had both the flu and WC and im only 5 weeks pregnant x