Research to inform the impact of immunosuppressive medications taken during pregnancy on maternal and infant immune responses to vaccines

Abstract

Vaccination against pertussis whooping cough and influenza are recommended during pregnancy to protect both the mother and baby from these diseases. A group of medications called biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) are increasingly being used in pregnant women in autoimmune diseases, and the impact of these medications on the immune response to vaccines in mothers and in their babies is not yet known. We hypothesise that the immune response to some vaccines may be lower in babies who were exposed to these medications during pregnancy. We will compare the immune response to vaccines in mothers and babies in four groups; women who took bDMARDs during pregnancy; women who took other types of immune-suppressing medications; women who have autoimmune disease but did not take any immune-suppressing medications during pregnancy; and healthy pregnant women.