New H1N1 Strain Appears Especially Dangerous In Pregnant Women, CDC Says

Main Category: Swine Flu
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 05 Oct 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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In the first four months of the emergence of the latest strain of H1N1 influenza, more than 100 pregnant women infected with the virus needed hospitalization in intensive care units, and 28 died, the Washington Post reports. The deaths occurred between late April, when the new strain appeared, and the end of August. Federal officials said the numbers suggest the new strain might be more dangerous than previously thought, the Post reports (Brown, Washington Post, 10/2). "These are really upsetting numbers, I know," said Anne Schuchat, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease, who called the strain's effect on pregnant women "striking" (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 10/1).

Until this outbreak, hospitals were not required to report seasonal flu-related deaths to public health officials unless they occurred in children; therefore, the "expected" mortality rate for pregnant women infected with seasonal flu is unknown. "Whether this is more common or people are just noticing it because we're attending to this H1N1 virus, it's difficult to say," Schuchat said, adding that anecdotal reports are that "doctors around the country ... have never seen this kind of thing before."

Previous flu pandemics also have shown what appear to be unusually high death rates among pregnant women. According to the Post, during the "Spanish flu" in 1918, 27% of the 1,350 pregnant women with the virus died. In 1957, 50% of the women of reproductive age who died of the "Asian flu" in Minnesota were pregnant (Washington Post, 10/2).

Schuchat said that right now there is "significant flu activity in virtually all states," which was "quite unusual for this time of year" (McNeil, New York Times, 10/2). Pregnant women are among the five "initial target groups" for the H1N1 vaccine. By Tuesday, 600,000 nasal-spray doses of the vaccine will be distributed to 25 states and cities (Washington Post, 10/2). Schuchat called the vaccine "an important way to protect yourself" and encouraged pregnant women to get vaccinated as soon as possible, adding that "no corners have been cut" in testing it (CQ HealthBeat, 10/1).

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