Docs say NO to vaccine in pregnancy

Influenza Vaccination During Pregnancy:

A Critical Assessment of the Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)

Influenza vaccination during all trimesters of pregnancy is now universally recommended in the United States. We critically reviewed the influenza vaccination policy of the CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP) and the citations that were used to support their recommendations. The ACIPs citations and the current literature indicate that
influenza infection is rarely a threat to a normal pregnancy. There is no convincing evidence of the effectiveness of influenza vaccination during this critical period. No studies have adequately assessed the risk of influenza vaccination during pregnancy, and animal safety testing is lacking.

Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative present in most inactivated formulations of the vaccine, has been implicated in human neurodevelopment disorders, including autism, and a
broad range of animal and experimental reproductive toxicities including teratogenicity, mutagenicity, and fetal death. Thimerosal is classified as a human teratogen.
The ACIP policy recommendation of routinely administering influenza vaccine during pregnancy is ill-advised and unsupported by current scientific literature, and it should be withdrawn.
Use of thimerosal during pregnancy should be contraindicated.

On May 28, 2004, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published its annual report on its current policy for prevention of influenza. The recommendation to vaccinate all pregnant women regardless of trimester was the most aggressive in a series of policy changes that began in 1995. Previously, influenza vaccine was advised only for women with preexisting medical conditions. The latest ACIP recommendation was promptly endorsed by the
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and theAmericanAcademy of Pediatrics (AAP).

This investigation critically assesses the current ACIP recommendations, reviews the clinical research that supported them, and evaluates the risk-benefit analysis of administering
inactivated influenza vaccine during pregnancy.

http://www.jpands.org/vol11no2/ayoub.pdf