http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/10778
Pregnant Women Will Be Amongst the First in Line to Get Swine Flu Vaccine
Submitted by Julie on July 28, 2009 - 11:31am.
The H1N1 "swine flu" virus has been hitting one population segment especially hard - pregnant women. Making up just one percent of the U.S. population, pregnant women have accounted for 6 percent of swine flu deaths since the pandemic began in April, and will thus be among the first group advised to receive the new swine flu vaccine this fall.
On Wednesday a federal vaccine advisory panel will meet to discuss who should be first to get the swine flu shots when there aren't enough for everyone. Those at the top of the list are health care workers, who would be essential to society during a particularly bad pandemic. Pregnant women will also be near the top because they have suffered and died at disproportionately high rates.
Dr. Denise Jamieson, an epidemiologist with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said:
"Are they more at risk for severe disease? That's the issue," and it appears they are."
In Europe, the risk of swine flu to pregnant women has been a hot topic. British and Swiss health offcials even suggested earlier this month that women should consider delaying pregnancy if they can. However, most health officials said that advice was unwarranted, but agree that the risks are significant.
The World Health Organization said in a recent report that they found pregnant women to be "at increased risk for severe disease, potentially resulting in spontaneous abortion and/or death, especially during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy."
Pregnant women have been encouraged for more than a decade to get vaccinated for seasonal flu, which is considered a serious threat even in young, healthy pregnant women. The risk is highest in the third trimester due to changes in the lungs and immune system that make it more difficult to shake off respiratory infections. CDC data shows that the swine flu is at least as dangerous.
To date there have been 302 US deaths attributed to swine flu, and the CDC has detailed information on 266 of them. Of the 266, 15 were pregnant., which is 6 percent. The first American to die from the virus was a pregnant woman in Texas - Judy Trunnell, 33 - who died May 5.
Pregnant Women Will Be Amongst the First in Line to Get Swine Flu Vaccine
Submitted by Julie on July 28, 2009 - 11:31am.
The H1N1 "swine flu" virus has been hitting one population segment especially hard - pregnant women. Making up just one percent of the U.S. population, pregnant women have accounted for 6 percent of swine flu deaths since the pandemic began in April, and will thus be among the first group advised to receive the new swine flu vaccine this fall.
On Wednesday a federal vaccine advisory panel will meet to discuss who should be first to get the swine flu shots when there aren't enough for everyone. Those at the top of the list are health care workers, who would be essential to society during a particularly bad pandemic. Pregnant women will also be near the top because they have suffered and died at disproportionately high rates.
Dr. Denise Jamieson, an epidemiologist with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said:
"Are they more at risk for severe disease? That's the issue," and it appears they are."
In Europe, the risk of swine flu to pregnant women has been a hot topic. British and Swiss health offcials even suggested earlier this month that women should consider delaying pregnancy if they can. However, most health officials said that advice was unwarranted, but agree that the risks are significant.
The World Health Organization said in a recent report that they found pregnant women to be "at increased risk for severe disease, potentially resulting in spontaneous abortion and/or death, especially during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy."
Pregnant women have been encouraged for more than a decade to get vaccinated for seasonal flu, which is considered a serious threat even in young, healthy pregnant women. The risk is highest in the third trimester due to changes in the lungs and immune system that make it more difficult to shake off respiratory infections. CDC data shows that the swine flu is at least as dangerous.
To date there have been 302 US deaths attributed to swine flu, and the CDC has detailed information on 266 of them. Of the 266, 15 were pregnant., which is 6 percent. The first American to die from the virus was a pregnant woman in Texas - Judy Trunnell, 33 - who died May 5.