Flu shots safe for pregnant women, study finds

[tetano]

(Reuters Health) - Adding to evidence that the flu shot is safe during pregnancy, a U.S. government study found no unusual complications among pregnant women who've received the vaccine in the past 20 years.

Researchers found that between 1990 and 2009, there were 175 reports of possibly vaccine-related medical complications among pregnant women submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

That amounts to an estimated rate of 12.5 reported complications per one million pregnant women vaccinated against the flu.

Most were considered "non-serious." And while there were some reports of miscarriage and stillbirth, the numbers were substantially lower than the average rates of those complications in the general population.

VAERS is a vaccine-safety surveillance system run by the federal government; it allows anyone -- including doctors, vaccine makers and vaccine recipients -- to report health problems that develop after a vaccination.


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http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AA5P620101111

[tetano]

Re: Flu shots safe for pregnant women, study finds

AJOG


Adverse events in pregnant women following administration of trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine and live attenuated influenza vaccine in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, 1990-2009


Objective:

The objective of the study was to characterize reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) in pregnant women who received seasonal influenza vaccines to assess for potential vaccine safety concerns.
Study design:

We searched VAERS for reports of adverse events (AEs) in pregnant women who received trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) from July 1, 1990 through June 30, 2009, or live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) from July 1, 2003, through June 30, 2009.
Results:

AJOG


A total of 148 reports after TIV and 27 reports after LAIV were identified. Twenty TIV (13.5%) and 1 LAIV (4%) reports were classified as serious. No specific AEs were reported in 30 TIV (20.3%) and 16 LAIV (59%) reports. The most common pregnancy-specific AE was spontaneous abortion: 17 after TIV (11.5%) and 3 after LAIV (11%). The reporting rate of spontaneous abortion was 1.9 per million pregnant women vaccinated.
Conclusion:

No unusual patterns of pregnancy complications or fetal outcomes were observed in the VAERS reports of pregnant women after the administration of TIV or LAIV.

http://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378%2810%2901105-1/abstract