Table 2.
Global Influenza Initiative (GII) recommendations regarding influenza vaccination during pregnancy
| 1. To prevent seasonal influenza morbidity and mortality in infants and their mothers, all pregnant women, regardless of trimester, should be vaccinated with the inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV) |
| 2. Pregnant women should not receive the live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) |
| 3. Postpartum women, even if they are breastfeeding, can receive either the IIV or LAIV |
| 4. Because it is difficult to predict the onset of the influenza season, routine influenza vaccination is recommended for pregnant women and those who expect to be pregnant during the influenza season. The duration of each geographic region’s influenza season should be an important consideration because in some countries, influenza is seasonal, whereas in others it occurs year-round. In regions with defined influenza seasons, the GII recommends the vaccination of pregnant woman as a priority group immediately after the vaccine becomes available, regardless of the pregnancy trimester |
| 5. For countries where vaccination of influenza is starting or expanding, the GII recommends that pregnant women have a high priority |
| 6. For countries with programs of immunization against influenza, where pregnant women are not considered as a priority for vaccination, a policy change is required to consider them as such |
| 7. Vaccination coverage of pregnant women is low worldwide; therefore, there is a need to encourage education of all healthcare providers (not solely obstetricians) that a pregnant woman is likely to see that maternal immunization is effective, well tolerated, and safe. If the healthcare professional does not recommend the vaccine, even highly educated women are unlikely to receive it |
| 8. Wherever possible, influenza vaccination during pregnancy must be administered at least 15 days before delivery |
| 9. Where quadrivalent IIV is available, it can be administered in pregnant women instead of the trivalent one |
| 10. Influenza vaccination should become standard in women’s health care |