Flu Shot to Be Priority for Pregnant Women

Posted by Allie Montgomery on 29 July 2009

We all know that the swine flu has been hitting the people in the United States pretty hard, but it has been hitting women who are pregnant unusually hard. This is why they are most likely to be among the first in line to be advised to get a new swine flu shot this fall. Pregnant women account for approximately 6 percent of the U.S. flu death since this pandemic began in April, even though they only make up 1 percent of the population in the U.S.

On Wednesday, the federal vaccine advisory panel is meeting find the answer to the question of who should be the first group to get the swine flu shots when there are not enough to give everyone. At the top of the list will be health care workers, who would be very crucial to the society during a bad pandemic. However, women who are pregnant may be near the top of the list because suffered and died from the swine flu this year at disproportionately high rates.

Dr. Denise Jamieson, who is an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, “Are they more at risk for sever disease?” The risk for pregnant women from the swine flu has been a hot topic in Europe, following the contentious suggestion this month by Swiss and British health officials that women should consider holding off on getting pregnant if all possible.

Most of the health officials call that advice unwarranted, but they have agreed that the health risks are very significant. In a recent report, experts from the World Health Organization found that pregnant women appear to be “at increased risk for severe disease, potentially resulting in spontaneous abortion and/or death, especially during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.” However, the WHO has not yet recommended that pregnant women should get priority vaccinations.

As of now, the physicians are waiting to see what is decided by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, whose guidance is usually accepted by the CDC and also influences physicians and coverage by insurance. For more than a 10 years, the committee has recommended that pregnant women get vaccinated for the seasonal flu, which is considered to be a serious threat to pregnant women who are healthy and young. Dr. Kevin Ault, who is an Emory University obstetrician, said that pregnant women are unusually vulnerable, especially during their third trimester, due to the changes in their immune system and lungs that make it harder for them to overcome respiratory infections.

The data from the CDC indicates that the swine flu is at least as dangerous. Of the 302 deaths in the U.S. that were attributed to the swine flue to date, the CDC has detailed information on 266 of the cases. The agency found that 15 of the 266 cases were pregnant women, or approximately 6 percent.

The first American to get the swine flu that lead to death was a pregnant woman from Texas named Judy Trunnell. She was 33 when she died May 5th after she slipping into a coma and giving birth to a health baby girl, delivered by Cesarean section.

Some of the pregnant women that get infected also have other health problems. Trunnell, for example, also suffered from asthma and the skin condition known as psoriasis. However, many of the pregnant women who died were considered to be relatively healthy, which suggests the pregnancy itself is a significant risk, stated Jamieson. “I think the whole concept that this flu only affects pregnant women with underlying medical conditions is incorrect.”

Experts believe that an effective vaccine would not only benefit the pregnant woman but also her unborn child. Infants, whose immune systems are weak after birth, should not get the flu shot until they are at least 6 months of age. So, the doctors said that whatever immunity the infants have is passed onto them by their mother.

The belief in the protective powers of a mother’s vaccination passed on to their unborn children was demonstrated in a study of women in Bangladesh that was published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study found that the flu shots that were given to pregnant women reduced flu in infants by 63 percent. However, only about 15 percent of pregnant women actually get a season flue shot, the experts noted, so it is not clear exactly how many will get the new shot.

Some women avoid getting the regular flu shot because they are worried about possible risks to their unborn child, but studies have not shown that there are any increased dangers from the shot. Dr. William Schaffner, who is a Vanderbilt University flu expert, said that until recently, many obstetricians have not offered them because they choose to avoid the expense of buying the vaccines, storing them and the hassle of trying to convince reluctant patients. “Obstetricians are only now getting with the program and are growing comfortable with administering flu vaccine,” he stated.

It is still not clear that the demand for the swine flu vaccines would be much greater than the seasonal flu vaccines. The patients who are pregnant have not expressed much concern about the swine flu pandemic, said the CDC’s Jamieson, who is also an obstetrician that is seeing inner-city patients at Atlanta’s Gray Memorial Hospital.

Jamieson stated that the swine flu has not been a major concern since it is viewed as a relatively mild illness. People are worrying more about economic concerns, “how to take care of the baby, how to get food to eat and how to get safe and secure housing,” Jamison said.

So far, the CDC believes that the swine flu has likely infected more than 1 million Americans with at least 300 casualties. The United States expects to begin testing the swine flu vaccines on some volunteers this August, and predicts approximately 160 million doses may be ready to deliver by October.

Resources: http://www.healthnews.com/family-health/pregnancy-childbirth-parenting/flu-shot-be-priority-pregnant-women-3508.html