Pregnant Women Encouraged to get Vaccinated
A new study gives encouraging news for pregnant women afraid of getting the flu: it’s safe to get vaccinated.
A new study gives encouraging news for pregnant women afraid of getting the flu: it’s safe to get vaccinated.
The comprehensive study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health found no evidence that vaccination increases the risk of losing a fetus, and may prevent some deaths.
Pregnant women have five times the risk of severe illness if they catch the flu with the Norwegian research showing that contracting the flu during a pregnancy makes fetal death more likely.
The flu vaccine has long been considered safe for pregnant women and their fetus. U.S. health officials began recommending flu shots for them more than five decades ago, following a higher death rate in pregnant women during a flu pandemic in the late 1950s.
But the study is perhaps the largest look at the safety and value of flu vaccination during pregnancy, experts say.
"This is the kind of information we need to provide our patients when discussing that flu vaccine is important for everyone, particularly for pregnant women," said Dr. Geeta Swamy, a researcher who studies vaccines and pregnant women at Duke University Medical Center.
This information is especially important for Latinas, who in general, whether pregnant or not, are less likely to get vaccinated.
While statistics are not yet available for this year, during the last flu season only 39 percent of Latino adults received the flu shot, compared to 49 percent of non-Hispanic whites.
With the early and intense flu season outbreak spread nationwide, a U.S. obstetricians group this week reminded members that it's not too late for their pregnant patients to get vaccinated.
The study was released on Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine. Over the course of two years, the study pregnancies in Norway in 2009 and 2010 during an international epidemic of a new swine flu strain.
Before 2009, pregnant women in Norway were not routinely advised to get flu shots. But during the pandemic, vaccinations against the new strain were recommended for those in their second or third trimester.
The study focused on more than 113,000 pregnancies. Of those, 492 ended in the death of the fetus. The researchers calculated that the risk of fetal death was nearly twice as high for women who weren't vaccinated as it was in vaccinated mothers.
U.S. flu vaccination rates for pregnant women grew in the wake of the 2009 swine flu pandemic, from less than 15 percent to about 50 percent. But health officials say those rates need to be higher to protect newborns as well. Infants can't be vaccinated until 6 months, but studies have shown they pick up some protection if their mothers got the annual shot, experts say.
Because some drugs and vaccines can be harmful to a fetus, there is a long-standing concern about giving any medicine to a pregnant woman, experts acknowledged. But this study should ease any worries about the flu shot, said Dr. Denise Jamieson of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"The vaccine is safe," she said.
Based on reporting by The Associated Press.
Follow us on twitter.com/foxnewslatino
Like us at facebook.com/foxnewslatino
Stay up-to-date on the biggest health and wellness news with our weekly recap.