The scientific community must better include the interests of pregnant women in vaccine development and deployment, according to a new report from the Pregnancy Research Ethics for Vaccines, Epidemics and New Technologies Working Group.
The PREVENT Working Group is a grant-funded project led by faculty at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University, along with researchers at Washington, D.C.-based Georgetown University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The group issued a report Dec. 6 arguing pregnant and lactating women should be included in more vaccine studies and surveillance efforts to protect them and their children from emerging infectious diseases.
The 96-page report outlines numerous recommendations to help ensure pregnant women can benefit from vaccine advancements, such as strengthening infectious disease surveillance systems to include relevant data on maternal, obstetric and newborn health outcomes.
To view the full report, click here.