A study funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that hospitalized premature babies who received two-month vaccinations had an increased risk for breathing issues.
The trial, published in JAMA Pediatrics on January 6, confirms previous studies linking apnea to vaccinated premature infants. The vaccine side effect is currently labeled as a side effect for several childhood vaccines.
The study defines apnea as a “respiration pause greater than 20 seconds or a respiration pause greater than 15 seconds with associated bradycardia less than 80 beats per minute.”
Despite evidence linking the breathing issue to vaccination, the study’s lead author, Rachel G. Greenberg, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine, said in a press statement that the risk “posed by vaccine-preventable respiratory and other infections to unvaccinated infants is far higher.”
“Also, the episodes of apnea after vaccination in our study of hospitalized premature infants were brief and without serious complications,” Greenberg said. “As a result, our study supports that the current vaccination recommendations for premature infants are appropriate, but it’s important to educate parents about what to expect when their premature infants receive vaccines while in the hospital.”
According to the study, premature infants born before 33 weeks were more likely to experience apnea post-inoculation than those who did not receive the vaccine. Unvaccinated babies who experienced the apnea episodes had a slightly longer duration of the breathing issue than those who were vaccinated, however.
“In this randomized clinical trial of 223 infants born at less than 33 weeks’ gestational age, the odds of apnea within 48 hours were higher in infants who received 2-month vaccinations compared to infants who did not, with no difference in number or severity of events between group,” the study says.
“The similar number and duration of apneic events and lack of serious adverse events suggest that current vaccination recommendations for hospitalized preterm infants are appropriate. Neonatal clinicians should continue providing evidence-based anticipatory guidance about postvaccination apnea risk,” the research concludes.
