MOH: Free 3-in-1 vaccine for pregnant women starting next year

The initiative of the Health Ministry to provide free tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis (Tdap) combination vaccine to pregnant women starting next year is seen as a preparedness measure to protect vulnerable groups, including babies, from contracting pertussis (whooping cough).

Public health specialist Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said newborns cannot receive the vaccine directly, thereby increasing the risk of pertussis infection and disease complications due to low immunity.

“Thus, when pregnant mothers are vaccinated, they protect themselves and also contribute antibodies to their babies through the placenta, providing passive protection to newborns in the first week after birth.

“So, a vaccine from the mother will help the baby in the womb until it can receive the vaccine directly at the age of two months under the National Immunisation Programme and complete three doses when it reaches the age of five months,” he told Bernama today.

Babies’ antibodies will only reach the optimal level of protection when they complete three doses of the pertussis vaccine.

Yesterday, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said all pregnant women in Malaysia, including non-citizens, will be given the Tdap vaccine free of charge starting next year, involving an annual allocation of RM25 million.

It covers an estimated 500,000 pregnant mothers every year and aims to reduce the risk of pertussis infection, especially among babies under five months.

Allaying fears about the safety of the vaccine, Zainal, who is also the Malaysian Public Health Physicians’ Association adviser, said any vaccine that is approved for use has passed studies and has a high percentage of effectiveness.

Getting the vaccine during the second or third trimester of pregnancy (between 13 and 36 weeks of pregnancy) does not cause side effects to the foetus other than the mild side effects that are commonly experienced (by the mother) after vaccination such as fever, pain at the injection site, headache, muscle pain and fatigue, he said.

“Pregnant mothers should understand that this vaccine is a protection for the child which is considered better and the cost is lower compared to treatment if their child is infected with pertussis,” he said.

Meanwhile, communications engineer Alia Syabella Arashad, 31, who is now 14 weeks pregnant, described the initiative as good news for mothers and as an effort to protect the health of their children.

Pregnant with her second child, Alia said she was not worried about getting the vaccine as she believed that the vaccine provided by the government was safe.

A bank officer, Nor Amiza Hamir Hamzah, 33, is thankful for the initiative because it will reduce parental worry about the risk of pertussis infection in children.

Nor Amiza hoped that all pregnant women would not miss the opportunity to get the vaccine as an effort to curb the deadly disease.

For this year until Aug 23, a total of 343 cases of pertussis with 24 deaths were reported in Malaysia.

Of the 343 reported cases, 173 incidents or 50.4 percent were infants under the age of five months, while of the 24 deaths recorded, 19 deaths were among infants under the age of five months.

Pertussis is a vaccine-preventable disease caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis with germs spread through the air when the patient sneezes or coughs and infects the mouth, nose, and throat.

The typical symptom of pertussis is a cough that lasts for one to two weeks which can persist for up to two months.

Failure to get early treatment can cause severe complications such as pneumonia (inflammation of the lungs), encephalopathy (inflammation of the brain), and death.

- Bernama