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Tetanus toxoid and congenital abnormalities
Author(s) -
Czeizel A.E,
Rockenbauer M
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1016/s0020-7292(99)00008-9
Subject(s) - tetanus , medicine , toxoid , pregnancy , vaccination , contraindication , gestation , neonatal tetanus , population , pediatrics , offspring , obstetrics , fetus , immunology , pathology , genetics , alternative medicine , environmental health , biology
Objective : To study the human teratogenic potential of tetanus vaccination during pregnancy. Methods : Pair analysis of cases with congenital abnormalities and matched healthy controls was performed in the large population‐based dataset of the Hungarian Case–Control Surveillance of Congenital Abnormalities, 1980–1994. Results : Of 35 727 pregnant women who had babies without any defects in the study period (control group), 33 (0.09%) were vaccinated with tetanus. Of 21 563 pregnant women who had offspring with congenital abnormalities, 25 (0.12%) had tetanus vaccination. This difference was not significant ( P =0.39). The case–control pair analysis confirmed the safety of tetanus vaccination during pregnancy, particularly in the second and third months of gestation, i.e. during the critical period for congenital abnormalities. Conclusion : Tetanus vaccination during pregnancy appears not be teratogenic to the fetus. Thus, there is no contraindication, if the use of tetanus toxoid is necessary during pregnancy.