Descriptive Observational Study of Tdap Vaccination Adhesion in Pregnant Women in the Florentine Area (Tuscany, Italy) in 2019 and 2020

<i>Background</i>: Tdap (Tetanus-Diphtheria-acellular Pertussis) vaccination is nowadays a worldwide-recommended practice to immunize pregnant women. The vaccine administration at the third trimester of pregnancy (as recommended by the WHO) would ensure antibody protection to both the mo...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Benedetta Bonito, Daniela Balzi, Sara Boccalini, Paolo Bonanni, Giovanna Mereu, Maria Grazia Santini, Angela Bechini
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
Series:Vaccines
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/9/9/955
Description
Summary:<i>Background</i>: Tdap (Tetanus-Diphtheria-acellular Pertussis) vaccination is nowadays a worldwide-recommended practice to immunize pregnant women. The vaccine administration at the third trimester of pregnancy (as recommended by the WHO) would ensure antibody protection to both the mother and the newborn and has contributed to the significant drop of pertussis cases in infants. The aim of this observational study was to describe for the first time the socio-demographic characteristics and determinants of Tdap vaccination adhesion of pregnant women in the Florentine area. <i>Methods</i>: Information about parents’ vaccination status, their citizenship, employment type and mothers’ previous pregnancies and/or abortions were collected at the time of birth through the assistance birth certificates (CedAP) both for the years 2019 and 2020. This archive and the regional SISPC (Collective Prevention Healthcare Information System) linked using an anonymous unique personal identifier to retrieve the mother’s vaccination status. <i>Results</i>: We found an overall Tdap vaccination adhesion of 43% in 2019 and 47.3% in 2020. Several socio-demographic parameters would determine an increased vaccination adhesion, including parents’ geographical origin, mothers’ age and educational background, as well as the number of previous deliveries, abortions or voluntary termination of pregnancy. <i>Conclusions</i>: Since not much data are available on this topic in Italy, this study may constitute the baseline information for Tdap vaccination adhesion in pregnant women in the Florentine area (Italy). Thus, future successful vaccination strategies may be designed accordingly.
ISSN:2076-393X