# Effect of Maternal Influenza Vaccination during Pregnancy on Risk of Infant Influenza

> **NIH NIH K01** · KAISER FOUNDATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE · 2021 · $136,839

## Abstract

Project Summary: Vaccinating pregnant women to protect infants is a growing public health
trend because this approach utilizes one vaccine to protect two people. However, it is unknown
whether influenza vaccination during pregnancy protects infants against severe influenza or
modifies the effectiveness of influenza vaccines subsequently administered to infants. It is
critical that we understand the benefits and possible unintended consequences of this practice.
Although influenza vaccines have been recommended for pregnant women for decades,
vaccine uptake in this population remains low for reasons that are incompletely understood. The
specific aims of this proposal are: 1) To determine whether maternal influenza vaccination
during pregnancy protects infants 0 – 12 months against influenza (defined as a) severe
influenza (i.e., hospitalization), b) laboratory-confirmed influenza or c) any influenza or
influenza-like illness), and whether the effect varies by trimester of vaccination; 2) Evaluate
whether the effectiveness of Infants' first influenza vaccination at age 6 – 12 months is modified
by influenza vaccination during pregnancy; and 3) Examine whether influenza non-vaccination
during pregnancy clusters geographically, and determine if those clusters are associated with
influenza and influenza-like illnesses during pregnancy. The aims will leverage advanced
didactic training, benefit from an experienced mentorship team, and apply use of cutting-edge
causal inference and geographical cluster analysis techniques. They will harness the incredible
depth and breadth of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California's population data and the
comprehensive training environment afforded by Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. The
direct impact of this research is that it can lead to changes to current policies regarding
influenza vaccination in pregnant women. The career development component of the application
is designed to provide Dr. Zerbo with expertise in vaccinology, advance statistical methods and
additional research skills with the goal to prepare him to become an independent investigator in
vaccine effectiveness focused on pregnant women and infants. As more vaccines are
developed for pregnant women, determining their effectiveness and their interaction and effect
on infant immune system will be increasingly important.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10128369
- **Project number:** 5K01AI139275-04
- **Recipient organization:** KAISER FOUNDATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** Ousseny Zerbo
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $136,839
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-05-21 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10128369

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10128369, Effect of Maternal Influenza Vaccination during Pregnancy on Risk of Infant Influenza (5K01AI139275-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10128369. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*