Pregnant Women and Swine Flu
Hi all- I made some clarifications here: you can see them with strikeouts and in red: (see comments below too)
I was just listening to the Brian Lehrer show on WNYC. The health official recommended that all pregnant women get vaccinated against the swine regular flu. Apparently if you might have been exposed to the swine flu, there are 2 types of vaccinations. If you have asthma, one is better than the other for you.
Why get vaccinated for the regular flu if you are pregnant? For two reasons: if you are pregnant, your immune system is not as strong, and two, for your baby.
Related Posts:
- Swine Flu Vaccinations in Brooklyn and Updates (October 28th, 2009)
- Should Your Child or Pregnant Women Get The H1N1 Vaccine? (October 14th, 2009)
- Swine Flu Vaccines Started Today (October 6th, 2009)
- Advice For Pregnant Women (and not so pregnant ones) (June 23rd, 2009)
- Chicken Pox- to vaccinate or not??? (June 29th, 2007)
Thanks so much! I’m pregnant and was wondering if I should be doing something. But I guess not at this time…
There is not a “swine flu” vaccine- they hope to have one by the fall.
You can listen to Dr. Marc Siegel of NYU’s Langone Medical Center at the link below- he was the one on WNYC.org. Here is what he said:
“There are 2 antiviral vaccines that seem to be effective against the swine flu. One is called Relenza and the other is Tamiflu.”
He doesn’t say that you should take one of these if pregnant- but mentioned that these have been show to be effective. He is worried that too many people may take these for prevention and then we may develop a resistance to it.
He mentions that asthmatics should not take Relenza because it is inhaled and can provoke asthmatics.
He does recommend that anyone who is pregnant should be vaccinated against the flu. (upon listening to this the third time, I think he just means the regular flu to help prevent pregnant women from being compromised and perhaps then suseptable to the swine flu. Honestly, it’s not totally clear to me after listening to it three times!)
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2009/05/18/segments/132175
this is from about.com
If you do have the flu, see your practitioner. Doctors are saying that the general population should be treated with Tamiflu and Relenza, where appropriate. It is recommended that pregnant women understand that it is a pregnancy class C medication. This means “there are either no adequate studies, either animal or human, or there are adverse fetal effects in animal studies but no available human data.” Talk to your practitioner about it’s appropriateness for you.
http://pregnancy.about.com/b/2009/04/27/swine-flu-and-pregnancy.htm
Do you have any more info on the vaccine? Everything I’ve read said it would take at least 6 months to develop one so I am surprised that there is one available already. Thanks!
Good to know Megan- thank you!
Also on the swine flu, breastfeeding is being strongly encouraged for all babies and for as long as possible to boost immunity and help protect babies and toddlers from this flu.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/health/news-article.aspx?storyid=138176&catid=10