CDC Urges Pregnant Women To Get Vaccinated Against Whooping Cough

A new CDC study has linked Tdap vaccination during pregnancy to reduced rates of whooping cough in newborns. According to the findings, Tdap vaccination given during the third trimester prevented more than three out of four cases of whopping cough in infants younger than two months old.

Researchers say the protection is critical because those first few months are when infants are most likely to have serious complications and be hospitalized or even die if they get the highly contagious respiratory tract infection.

The CDC recommends pregnant women get the Tdap vaccination during weeks 27-36 of pregnancy to boost their antibodies and pass those antibodies on to their infants.

According to federal data, about 55% of pregnant women in the U.S. in 2019 were vaccinated against whooping cough, but the rate fell during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CDC guidelines also say that anyone who comes in close contact with infants should be up to date with their whooping cough vaccines as well.