A new study of women who were pregnant in Peru found that those who used the 2018 Southern Hemisphere influenza vaccine had more than 50 percent lower incidence of RT-PCR-confirmed influenza illness than those who weren’t vaccinated. While the estimated vaccine effectiveness did not reach statistical significance, the findings of the study, which Abt Global co-authored, provide additional evidence about the value of maternal influenza vaccination in middle-income countries.

The study enrolled women at less than 28 weeks gestation from four tertiary level hospitals in Lima, Peru at the start of the 2018 influenza season. The research team, which included staff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Peruvian specialists, followed the 1,896 participants until the end of their pregnancies. The team collected nasal swabs and tested the women for influenza with RT-PCR when symptoms occurred.