Determining the contribution of influenza to early childhood morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa and the potential to prevent influenza disease through vaccination may contribute to reducing childhood deaths; since influenza illness is a vaccine preventable disease for which vaccines are developed, licensed and available at reasonable cost. Unfortunately, infants at highest risk for serious disease are those under 6 months of age, for whom trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) is poorly immunogenic and not licensed. As pregnant women also have an increased risk of serious illness (3.3-5.5 fold for hospitalization for influenza-associated acute cardio-respiratory illness) from influenza infection, one strategy to prevent the complications of influenza in pregnant women and young infants is through maternal TIV immunization, which is recommended by the WHO. This could result in direct protection of the women and protection of the young infant consequent to transplacental transfer of TIV induced antibody.