Physicians urge pregnant women to get H1N1 Vaccine, protect themselves and baby

October 20, 8:51 AMHealth and Science ExaminerP. Elizabeth Anderson

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The H1N1 vaccine can mean the difference between life and death for mother and baby.

Morguefile

Pregnant women in the U.S. infected with the novel H1N1 influenza A virus have died at a rate six times higher than the general population.

With flu season upon us, that mortality rate could escalate. Consequently, physicians from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) strongly advise expectant mothers to get immunized with the H1N1 vaccine.

“Pregnant women are immunocompromised, in a sense, because they have to have in themselves the ability not to reject the baby. So that’s a window that the virus clearly is taking advantage of,” says Dr. Gerson Weiss, professor and chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Women’s Health at UMDNJ.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists expectant mothers among those at “high risk” for serious complications from the novel H1N1 influenza A virus. Pregnant women who contract the virus may experience serious complications including early labor and severe pneumonia or the illness may prove fatal, the CDC warns.

“This is a very serious potential problem. The CDC anticipates that the death rate can be as high as 10 percent among pregnant women who get H1N1,” Weiss says. “The vaccine will not be 100 percent protective, but it will certainly, for many people, mean the difference between life and death.”

Weiss offers reassurance to women concerned about taking medications while pregnant: “This vaccine is not a drug in that it does not treat, nor does it contain a live virus,” he explains. “It stimulates the immune system to protect the individual so that if the real virus comes on it can fight it. And, if mom is nursing, the H1N1 vaccine may protect her and her infant.” Babies under the age of six months are too young to be vaccinated.

According to the CDC, side effects of the H1N1 flu vaccine are expected to be similar to those reported for seasonal flu vaccines - soreness, tenderness, headache, muscle aches, fever, fatigue and nausea—and are expected to be mild.

Expectant mothers who experience flu symptoms or an unexplained fever should immediately contact their physician, Weiss urges. “The doctor may, over the phone, prescribe treatment such as Tamiflu, which is safe, and advise you to stay away from other people or to wear a mask in public,” he says.

Weiss suggests that pregnant women experiencing severe symptoms such as a high fever, trouble breathing or chest pain go to the hospital. “The emergency room should be equipped to screen you, evaluate what the problem is, and determine if you are sick enough to be admitted,” he says. “Delays in evaluation or treatment are potentially extremely harmful.”

The key to preventing such serious complications and widespread infections is to get vaccinated, Weiss emphasizes. “The best way to decrease the power of an epidemic is to have enough people immune so that the disease is not transmitted from person to person to person.”

For more information: CDC

Source: The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), the nation’s largest free-standing public health sciences university with nearly 5,700 students attending the state's three medical schools. Annually, more than two million patients visit the various UMDNJ facilities and faculty.