Some Pregnant Women In Washington, D.C., Raise Questions, Concerns About H1N1 Flu Vaccine

Main Category: Swine Flu
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 21 Aug 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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An increasing number of pregnant women in the Washington, D.C., area are beginning to question whether the H1N1 flu vaccine will be safe for them and their fetuses when it becomes available, the Washington Post reports. According to the Post, the concerns recently have surfaced because federal officials and experts now say that pregnant women are a priority among those who should receive the H1N1, or swine flu, vaccine when it is available this fall.

Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to the flu virus because their immune systems have been altered, experts note. For women at more advanced stages of pregnancy, their growing abdomens reduce their lung capacity, making them more prone to developing pneumonia -- a flu complication that is potentially fatal. According to the Post, a study in The Lancet last month, which found that pregnant women are four times more likely to require hospitalizations for the H1N1 flu, prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to recommend the vaccine for all pregnant women.

Since the H1N1 flu surfaced in the U.S., 15 cases have been reported among pregnant women, who usually make up 1% of the country's population. In addition, about 6% of H1N1 deaths have been recorded among pregnant women. Fewer than 15% of pregnant women follow recommendations from CDC and ACOG to receive the regular seasonal flu vaccine, which officials say is safe for pregnant women and fetuses in all trimesters.

Maggie Little, director of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University, said that there is reluctance among some pregnant women and their physicians to take medications, even drugs that are low risk. Little called it a culture that "tends toward perfectionism and control around pregnancy." However, she expressed concern about such a mindset, adding that "if we get a bad resurgence of the flu and these women don't get vaccinated, we're going to have a lot of dead mommies and babies."

Anthony Fauci, director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that the H1N1 vaccine is being tested among 2,800 children and adults, adding that it will be tested among 360 to 720 pregnant women starting next month. Fauci said, "This influenza vaccine ... is being made in the same way and by the same companies we have worked with every year for seasonal flu vaccine, literally for decades," adding, "Although you never take the safety issue lightly or presume anything, historically the use of it (with pregnant women) has not been a red-flag issue" (Gowen, Washington Post, 8/20).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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