Influenza vaccination among pregnant women during the 2016-2017 flu season was slightly higher than during the 2015-2016 season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Overall coverage for 2016-2017 was 53.6% among pregnant women, compared with 49.9% in 2015-2016, continuing the overall rise seen over the last several flu seasons. Among pregnant women who received a recommendation from a health care provider and were offered vaccination, coverage was 70.5% in 2016-2017, while coverage was 43.7% among women who received a recommendation but no offer and 14.8% among those who did not receive a recommendation, the CDC reported (MMWR. 2017 Sep 29;66[38]:1016-22).
Among other subgroups, coverage by age for the 2016-2017 flu season was 41.7% for those aged 18-24 years, 58.4% for those aged 25-34 years, and 58.5% for those 35-49 years old. There also was considerable variation by race/ethnicity, with coverage at 61.2% for Hispanics, 55.4% for whites, 42.3% for blacks, and 51.7% for others. Coverage for the subgroups corresponded with the rates at which vaccination was recommended: Younger women were less likely than older women to receive a recommendation, and Hispanic and white women more likely to receive recommendations than did blacks and other races/ethnicities, the CDC said.
The 2017 data include 1,893 responses to an Internet panel survey conducted from March 28 to April 7, 2017. The analysis of the 2016 panel survey, which was conducted from March 29 to April 7, 2016, included responses from 1,692 women.
