PUTRAJAYA, May 13 — The government has approved the administration of the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP) vaccination to pregnant mothers, which will begin year-end, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said.
He said the initiative was aimed at protecting newborns from pertussis (whooping cough).
“The vaccinations are given free of charge under the National Immunisation Programme (NIP),” he told the media after the 2024 National Immunisation Day celebrations and the National Immunisation Summit here today.
Meanwhile, Immunise4life programme technical committee chairman Prof Datuk Dr Zulkifli Ismail said the DTaP vaccinations for pregnant mothers would protect their children from whooping cough as most patients are unvaccinated or do not get vaccinated in time.
“We want the children to be immunised before they are three months, so they will receive immunisation from their mothers,” he said, adding that one dose of the DTaP vaccine would be given to pregnant mothers in their third trimester or between 27 to 32 weeks of pregnancy.
“The vaccination is for each pregnancy, so if the mother is pregnant every year, she will be vaccinated every year,” he said.
Whooping cough is caused by the bordetella pertussis bacteria, which infects the mouth, nose and throat and becomes airborne when the patient sneezes or coughs.
Its symptoms include prolonged cough for one or two weeks, which often drags to two months.
In other developments, Dr Dzulkefly said besides the DTaP vaccine, the government is considering including an influenza jab in the NIP for the elderly.
“We are considering it as we know the elderly are exposed to infection. I hope, maybe next year in Budget 2025 or further, we can request to include it in the NIP specially for the elderly,” he said.
— Bernama
