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Flu And Whooping Cough Vaccine Combo Safe For Pregnant Women, Study Finds

(CBS NEWS) -- Pregnant women can breathe easy about getting flu and whooping cough vaccines during pregnancy, and there's no reason to be concerned about getting them both at the same time, experts say.

Doctors previously recommended the two vaccines be given weeks apart. But a new, six-year study published Wednesday in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology reports that getting the shots at the same time is just as safe as spacing them out.

The researchers analyzed data on 36,844 women, ages 14 to 49, who received flu and whooping cough vaccines during pregnancy between 2007 and 2013. In 23 percent of pregnancies the vaccines were given at the same time and in the other 77 percent the vaccines were administered at separate times.

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Vaccine research scientist and study co-author Marlene Lugg said they found no significant increased risk of fever or other adverse effects to mother or baby.

"There was no difference in early birth, low birth weight, in any of the babies' outcomes," said Lugg.

Dr. Richard Beigi, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs at Magee-Womens Hospital at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told CBS News there was no reason to believe getting the two vaccines together would be unsafe in pregnant women, but it had never been addressed before in research.

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