Early Start: Fetuses generate immune response to vaccination
By Nathan Seppa
A fetus can manufacture immune cells and antibodies in direct response to vaccine given to the mother during pregnancy, according to researchers studying flu shots.
Scientists had already established that a pregnant woman can pass along certain antibodies to her fetus and that those immune proteins can protect a baby for up to 6 months after birth. Other studies had found that a fetus can muster an immune response to an infection contracted by the mother. But there had been little evidence indicating that a fetus can generate immunity to a vaccine, says study coauthor Rachel L. Miller, an immunologist at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.