Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.
Skip to main content
Home

Header Top Menu

  • Careers
  • Investors
  • News
    • Press Release Archive
    • Press Statements
    • Podcasts
      • The Antigen Podcast
      • Get Science Podcast
      • Diverse Perspectives Podcast
      • menopause: unmuted
      • Hemcast
    • Contact Media Relations
    • Press Kits & Downloads
      • Company Press Kit
      • Pfizer Oncology Press Kit
      • PSA Narrative
      • RA NarRAtive
      • Rare Disease Gene Therapy Press Kit
      • ATTR-Amyloidosis Press Kit
      • UC Narrative
      • Eczema Inside Out Press Kit
  • Partners
    • Discovery to Pre-candidate
      • Focus Areas
        • Therapeutic Areas
          • Internal Medicine
          • Inflammation and Immunology
          • Oncology
          • Rare Disease
          • Vaccines
        • Therapeutic Modalities and Technology Platforms
          • Drug Safety
          • Gene Therapy
          • Target Sciences
          • Precision Medicine
          • Medicinal Sciences
            • Biologics Product & Process Development
            • Biotherapeutics Discovery
            • Medicine Design
            • Small Molecule Product & Process Development
        • Emerging Science
          • DNA Damage Response
          • Microsatellite Repeat Expansions
          • Senescence
      • Partnering Models
    • Candidate Through Commercialization
      • Focus Areas
        • Internal Medicine
        • Inflammation and Immunology
        • Oncology
        • Rare Disease
        • Vaccines
        • Hospital
    • Pfizer CentreOne
    • Pfizer Ventures
      • Our portfolio

Healthcare Professionals

  • Healthcare Professionals

Connect with Us

  • Connect with Us
    • Email
    • FAQ
    • Privacy Policy (NEW)
    • YouTube
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Instagram
  • Your Health

    • Healthy Living
      • Brain & Nervous System
      • Cardiovascular Health
      • Cold & Flu
      • Digestive Health
      • Healthier Aging
      • Living Tobacco Free
      • Men’s Health
      • Mental Health
      • Nutrition & Fitness
      • Pediatric Health
      • Respiratory Health
      • Skin Health
      • Vaccines & Prevention
      • Women’s Health

    • Disease & Condition
      • Cancer
      • Cardiovascular Diseases & Conditions
      • Diabetes & Metabolic Disorders
      • Immune System Diseases & Conditions
      • Infections & Infectious Diseases
      • Neurological Diseases & Conditions
      • Menopause
      • Rare Disease
      • Vaccine-Related Conditions
      • Skin Diseases & Conditions
      • Atopic Dermatitis
      • Cardiovascular Disease
      • Severe Hypertriglyceridemia

    • Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Resources

    • Managing your health
      • Caregiving
      • Evaluating Health Information
      • Tracking Your Health
      • Your Medicines
      • Health Literacy

    • Wellness
    Hot Topics

    Maintaining Emotional Well-Being During COVID-19

    Emotional Well-Being Tips for People Living with Chronic Inflammatory Conditions During COVID-19
  • Our Science

    • Driven to Discover the cure

    • Focus Areas
      • Internal Medicine
      • Inflammation & Immunology
      • Oncology
      • Rare Disease
      • Vaccines
      • Anti Infectives

    • Product Pipeline

    • Clinical Trials
      • Guide to Clinical Trials
      • Find a Trial
      • Expanded Access & Compassionate Use
      • Clinical Trials in Children
      • Partnering with Pfizer
      • Trial Data & Results
      • Research Integrity & Transparency
      • Diversity in Clinical Trials

    • R&D Platforms
      • Biosimilars
      • Gene Therapy
      • Medicinal Sciences
      • Precision Medicine
      • Maternal Immunization

    • Collaboration
      • Partner with Pfizer

    • Research sites

    • Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Resources
      • All COVID-19 Updates
      • Vaccine Efforts
      • Antiviral Efforts
      • Partnerships & Anti-Infective Efforts
      • Supporting the Fight Against COVID-19
    HOT TOPICS

    MRNA VS. CONVENTIONAL VACCINES

    What Makes an RNA Vaccine Different From a Conventional Vaccine?
  • Our People

    • Meet The Experts
      • Scientists
      • Internal Medicine – Metabolic Disease
      • Inflammation & Immunology
      • Oncology
      • Rare Disease
      • Vaccines
      • Medical Professionals

    • The Journey

    • Leadership
      • Executives
      • Board Members
      • Company Fact Sheet

    • Diverse Perspectives
      • Diversity & Inclusion
      • Supplier Diversity
    HOT TOPICS

    Meet our new Chief Patient Officer, Dr. Dara Richardson-Heron

    dr_richardson_300x170.jpg

    Working Together to Empower Women

    VizagWomen_300x170.jpg

    • Hot Topics
  • Our Purpose

    • Commitment to Global Health
      • Expanding Access
      • Strengthening Health Systems
      • Providing Disaster & Humanitarian Relief
      • Unleashing the Power of Our Colleagues
      • Highlighting Individual Voices

    • Protecting People and the Environment
      • Pfizer's Green Journey
      • Product Stewardship
      • EHS Governance
      • EHS Supply Chain
      • Key Performance Indicators
      • Health & Safety
      • Human Rights

    • Positions on Health Policies
      • Ready for Cures
      • How does Pfizer price medicines?
      • Value of Medicines
      • Policy Positions
      • Creating Cures Through Facility Investments

    • Transparency
      • Working with Health Care Professionals
      • Transparency in Grants
      • Code of Conduct
      • Corporate Compliance
      • Sales and Marketing Compliance

    • Independent Grants
      • Competitive Grants Program
      • Independent Medical Education
      • Investigator Sponsored Research
      • Quality Improvement
      • COVID-19 Vaccine Grants

    • Contributions & Partnerships
      • Healthcare Charitable Contributions
      • Lobbying & Political Contributions
    HOT TOPICS

    Pfizer Women’s Resource Group

    Media Name: IWD_Pull_up_Banner_300x170.jpg

    • Hot Topics
  • Our Products

    • Product listing

    • How drugs are made
      • Branded vs. Generic
      • Biologics & Biosimilars
      • Commitment to Quality

    • Distributors
      • Pfizer Distributors
      • Greenstone Distributors

    • Medicine Safety
      • Reporting Adverse Events
      • Making Good Treatment Choices
      • Partnering With Patients
      • Health Literacy
      • Medicine Safety Tips for Patients
      • Counterfeiting
      • Unused Medicines

    • Safety Data Sheets

    • Medical Information Contacts

    • Pfizer Global Supply
    HOT TOPICS

    Universal vs. Single Payer Healthcare

    Media Name: universal_healthcare300x170.jpg
  • Careers

    • Working Here
      • Mission & Purpose
      • Culture
      • Diversity & Inclusion
      • Career Growth & Colleague Development
      • Compensation & Benefits
      • Ensuring Corporate Responsibility
    • Search Jobs
    • Student & Early Career
      • Postdoctoral Program
      • US Summer Student Worker Program
      • Opportunities for Veterans
    • Pfizer365.com
    • Our Hiring & Recruiting Process
      • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Tips for Interviewing at Pfizer
    • Connect With Us
  • Investors

    • Investors Overview
      • Why Invest / Our Story
      • Prospective Investors
      • Fact Sheet
    • Events & Presentations
    • Financials
      • Quarterly Reports
      • Annual Reports
      • SEC Filings
      • Interactive Data Filings
    • Investor News
    • Stock Information
      • Historical Price Lookup
      • Investment Calculator
      • Historical Stock Chart & Data
      • Dividend & Split History
      • Stock FAQs
    • Governance
      • Board Committees and Charters
      • The Pfizer Board Policies
      • Corporate Governance FAQs
      • Contact Our Directors
    • Shareholder Services
      • Stock FAQs
      • Advisory Information
      • Cost Basis Calculator
  • News

    • Contact Media Relations
    • Podcasts
    • Press Kits & Downloads
    • Press Release Archive
    • Press Statements
  • Partners
  • Footer links

    • Footer Aside Section1
      • CAREER-SEEKERS
      • INVESTORS
      • News & Media
      • Partners
    • Footer Aside Section 2
      • Healthcare Professionals
      • Business To Business
      • Change Region
      • Sitemap
    • Footer Aside Section3
      • Twitter
      • Facebook
      • Linkedin
      • Instagram
      • Youtube
    • Footer Aside Section4
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy

One of Mom’s Many Gifts to Her Baby: Maternal Vaccination

One of Mom’s Many Gifts to Her Baby: Maternal Vaccination
OUR SCIENCE/ One of Mom’s Many Gifts to Her Baby: Maternal Vaccination
December 19, 2017

With maternal vaccination, mothers can pass life-saving antibodies onto their newborns.

In the third trimester of pregnancy, mothers give their babies something very important to prepare them before they enter the world: maternal immunity. Mothers transmit antibodies, proteins that fight off infections, through the placenta to their developing baby. Known as maternal immunity, these mother-to-child antibodies help protect an infant during the most vulnerable early months when the baby’s immune system has not yet developed.

But this does not protect the the majority of newborns over the period of greatest disease risk because the mother’s antibody levels are often too low to be protective once they’ve been passed to the baby. Worldwide nearly 700,000 newborns die each year due to infectious diseases such as pneumonia, sepsis, and tetanus. Many more are hospitalized and suffer long-term complications from infections. “RSV, for example, is responsible for nearly 200,000 infant deaths annually in developing countries and is the leading cause of infant hospitalization in the developed world,” says Kena Swanson, Senior Principal Scientist in Viral Vaccines at Pfizer’s Pearl River, NY Research and Development site.

The challenge with developing immune protection is also what makes it so sophisticated: It’s generally disease-specific. A mother needs to have acquired specific and protective antibodies through past exposure or by vaccination to be able to pass them to her baby. Of the five types of antibody classes, only one known as immunoglobulin G (IgG) is passed through the placenta to a baby, offering protection for up to six months.

A Mother’s Immunity Boost

In recent years, maternal immunization has been steadily gaining acceptance as a means to pass infection-fighting antibodies to newborns. Current research shows that vaccines are safe for pregnant women. After the H1N1 flu epidemic in 2009, both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended that all pregnant women receive the flu vaccine with each pregnancy. And with the recent uptick in whooping cough (pertussis) cases, the CDC also recommends that pregnant women receive a booster Tdap (tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis) vaccine. A recent study of nearly 150,000 babies in California found that maternal vaccination is highly effective in protecting infants against whooping cough in the first two months of life. “Data and analyses like these show that scientific acceptance and policy changes can provide new opportunities to prevent life-threatening infections in babies through maternal immunization” says Kathrin Jansen, Head of Vaccines Research and Development at Pfizer.

Mom-Specific Vaccines

The next phase in fighting newborn infectious disease is to develop vaccines specifically for pregnant women. Various organizations, from the Food and Drug Administration and vaccine developers to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization have recognized the importance of producing vaccines explicitly approved for use in pregnant women for newborns, which has never been done before. Pathogens for which maternal vaccines are currently under development include: respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), group B streptococcus (GBS), and cytomegalovirus (CMV).

“Maternal vaccines have the potential to prevent devastating infant diseases for which treatment is very limited or non-existent for people in large parts of the world,” says Ed Buurman, Director of Bacterial Vaccines and Technology at Pfizer’s Pearl River site. “New maternal vaccines will potentially have a huge health benefit for millions of babies.”

Maternal vaccines have the potential to prevent devastating infant diseases for which treatment is very limited or non-existent for people in large parts of the world.
-Ed Buurman

Related Hot Topics
Albert Bourla Reflects on the One Year Anniversary of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Albert Bourla Reflects on the One Year Anniversary of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Albert Bourla On Ensuring Equitable Access to COVID-19 Vaccines
Albert Bourla On Ensuring Equitable Access to COVID-19 Vaccines
The Facts About Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 Vaccine
The Facts About Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 Vaccine
An Early Passion for Science and Public Health Inspires Adriana’s Work
An Early Passion for Science and Public Health Inspires Adriana’s Work
Sandy Focuses on Diversity in Our Clinical Trials
Sandy Focuses on Diversity in Our Clinical Trials
“The Ice Man” - The Pfizer Colleague & Dad Who Keeps Our Medicines and Vaccines on Ice
“The Ice Man” - The Pfizer Colleague & Dad Who Keeps Our Medicines and…
Latino Colleagues at Pfizer Are Developing Potential Solutions for People Affected by COVID-19
Latino Colleagues at Pfizer Are Developing Potential Solutions for People…
Other Diseases
Deserve the Same Acceleration as
COVID-19: A BioCentury Audio Interview with Rod MacKenzie
Other Diseases Deserve the Same Acceleration as COVID-19
Tags
science
Vaccines
Show
Hide

Footer menu

  • Your Health
    • Healthy Living
    • Disease Conditions
    • Manage Your Health
  • Our Science
    • Therapeutic Areas
    • Product Pipeline
    • Clinical Trials
    • R&D Platforms
    • Collaboration
    • Research SItes
  • Our People
    • Meet the Experts
    • The Journey
    • Leadership
    • Diverse Perspectives
  • Our Purpose
    • Commitment To Global Health
    • Positions on Health Policies
    • Transparency
    • Contributions & Partnerships
  • Our Products
    • Product Listing
    • How Drugs are Made
    • Distributors
    • Global Product Information Contacts

Footer aside

  • Footer Aside Section1
    • CAREER-SEEKERS
    • INVESTORS
    • News & Media
    • Partners
  • Footer Aside Section 2
    • Healthcare Professionals
    • Business To Business
    • Change Region
    • Sitemap
  • Footer Aside Section3
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • Linkedin
    • Instagram
    • Youtube
  • Footer Aside Section4
    • Contact Us
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
Pfizer Logo Footer

Copyright © 2002-2021 Pfizer Inc. All rights reserved. This information—including product information—is intended only for residents of the United States.
The products discussed herein may have different labeling in different countries.