Heads up moms and moms-to-be! It’s that time of year again.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new flu vaccine that will be used during the 2012-2013 season.

Each year the FDA, in conjunction with  the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study influenza virus samples and global disease patterns to identify virus strains likely to cause the most illness during the upcoming flu season. Based on this research, the new vaccine will target the following strains:

• A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)-like virus
• A/Victoria/361/2011 (H3N2)-like virus
• B/Wisconsin/1/2010-like virus.

According to the CDC, between 5 percent and 20 percent of the U.S. population develops influenza each year. The CDC and FDA add that vaccination remains the most effective way to fight off the flu, especially this year.

“It is especially important to get vaccinated this year because two of the three virus strains used in this season’s influenza vaccines differ from the strains included in last year’s vaccines,” said Karen Midthun, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research in a statement.

The CDC encourages pregnant women to receive vaccinations, as they are at a higher risk for developing complications in infected. The CDC also adds that children younger than 6-months are not approved for the vaccine.

Will you and your family receive the vaccination?

Plus more from The Bump:

A Flu Shot During Pregnancy Prevents More Than Just the Flu

Vaccinations: What Baby Will Need

Vaccine Tracker Tool

Did you know there’s a whooping cough epidemic going on? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a statement today saying the state of Washington has had 2,520 cases of whooping cough (aka pertussis) this year. That’s a 1,300% increase over the same time period last year.

Whooping cough is a bacterial infection that, at first, causes cold-like symptoms but can affect breathing and can even result in death. And one of the age groups with the highest rates of the infection is infants under the age of one.

“The focus of prevention and control efforts is the protection of infants and others at greatest risk for severe disease and improving vaccination coverage in adolescents and adults, especially those who are pregnant. Pertussis vaccination remains the single most effective strategy for prevention of infection,” says the statement.

In other words, getting the vaccine (especially if you’re in Washington State) could prevent you from getting whooping cough and, in turn, prevent you from passing it along to baby before she’s old enough to be fully vaccinated. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies get the DTaP vaccine — which includes the vaccine for pertussis — at 2 months, 4 months and 6months and between 15 and 18 months and 4 to 6 years. There’s also a booster around age 11 or 12.

According to The Seattle Times, researchers believe the pertussis vaccine can start to wear off by age 10, so that’s why they recommend boosters. If you aren’t sure if you’ve had a booster, talk to your doctor to see if the DTaP is right for you. The CDC recommends pregnant women get the DTaP during the third or late second trimester of pregnancy (after 20 weeks gestation).

Plus, more from The Bump:

Can I Get Vaccinations While I’m Pregnant?

Whooping Cough in Babies

The Vaccine Pregnant Women Need

Getting the flu shot while you’re pregnant won’t just protect you against the flu, it will also reduce some other pregnancy risks. In a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers at Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Canada looked at Ontario’s birth record database during the H1N1 pandemic in November 2009 to April 2010. They analyzed 55,570 single-child birth – of those women, 42% got vaccinated.

Researchers found that the women who received the flu vaccine were 34% less likely to have a stillbirth, 28% less likely to deliver before 32 weeks gestation and 19% less likely to give birth to a child with a low birth weight. Also, there were no reported side effects for vaccinated moms and their babies in the weeks before and after birth.

Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommend the flu shot for women who will be pregnant during flu season (October through May).

Did you get the flu vaccine during your pregnancy? Do you plan on getting the flu vaccine?

Plus, more from The Bump:

Should I Get a Flu Shot During Pregnancy?

Pregnancy Safety

Are Vaccinations Okay to Get During Pregnancy?

Check out what’s buzzing around the Internet this week:

Jessica Simpson wants to give birth wearing a leopard caftan — PEOPLE Stylewatch

Parents wary of childhood vaccines? Here’s how to persuade them — TIME

Celebrity Babies’ Favorite Strollers — Lil Sugar

Teacher fired after receiving fertility treatments – ABC News

Did Los Angeles’ “Carmeggedon” lead to a baby boom? – CBS News

Cases of measles are on the rise. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 222 reported measles cases in 2011, which is three times the usual number of cases (from 2001 to 2010, there was an average of 60 reported cases a year). Measles is a highly contagious disease that includes symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose, muscle aches and a blotchy, red rash that spreads all over the body. In rare cases, it can affect the lungs and central nervous system. Children can be vaccinated against the disease with the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine.

People in 31 states reported a case of the measles in 2011. In most of the cases, people were infected while traveling abroad or coming into contact with an infected person who had been abroad. It was found that a lot of the cases were traced back to Europe, where immunization rates are lower. About 86 percent of the measles patients were not vaccinated. So far in 2012, there have been 25 cases reported.

Are you worried about measles? Are you going to vaccinate baby against it?

Plus, more from The Bump:

The Facts On Measles

Tool: Vaccine Tracker

Vaccinations: What Baby Will Need

Most of us have been there: The wailing doctor’s office scene. You’re mortified that baby’s crying and you’re also heartbroken. Here’s your poor little, sensitive baby and you just gave someone permission to stick her with a bunch of painful needles. How do you make her feel better asap? According to a new study published in Pediatrics, use the five S’s: swaddling, side/stomach position, shushing, swinging, and sucking.

If you’re not familiar with the five S’s, we talk a lot about them here at The Bump. They’re five soothing methods, discussed by Dr. Harvey Karp, author of The Happiest Baby On the Block, a hugely popular parenting book. (Coincidentally, I recently interviewed Dr. Karp for an article “How to Raise a Happy Baby” and he talked about the S’s then too.) Swaddling involves wrapping up baby snugly in a receiving blanket the way they do at the hospital. Side/stomach position involves lying baby on his side or stomach (just don’t do this when he’s sleeping or unsupervised — babies should sleep on their backs to prevent SIDS). Shushing involves playing white noise or making some other shhhhh sound. Swinging makes use of that baby swing you got at your shower or your good, old fashioned arms. And sucking means offering baby’s pacifier or (even better) your breast.

In the study, researchers tracked 2- and 4- month-old babies at their well-visits. The babies were given one of four types of soothing after their shots: 2 mL of water (the placebo), 2 mL of sugar water (often used to help infants manage pain), the five S’s or the five S’s and sugar water. They evaluated the infants’ pain and crying post-vaccine and found that the babies who had the five S’s had lower pain scores and less crying over time than the sugar water babies did — however, the sugar did offer some relief over plain old water. The babies who had the five S’s and sugar water had similar levels to the ones who just had the five S’s.

Plus, more from The Bump:

How to Raise a Happy Baby

Tips for Surviving Colic

Baby Vaccine Guide