[ad_1]
Breaking News Emails
Receive last minute alerts and special reports. News and stories that matter, delivered the mornings of the week.
Pregnant researchers announced Thursday that pregnant women vaccinated against the flu were 40% less likely to end up in the hospital with a serious influenza infection.
The study of women around the world adds to a large body of evidence showing that influenza vaccine protects women and their babies before and after birth.
"Pregnant women face a number of threats to their health and that of their baby during pregnancy, and catching the flu is one of them," said Allison Naleway of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, who participated at the study, statement.
"The results of this study underscore the fact that there is a simple but effective way to reduce the risk of flu-related complications during pregnancy: getting a flu shot."
Pregnant women top the list of people who should get the flu shot every year.
"It's very important for pregnant women to get the flu shot," says the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pregnant women are often worried about getting vaccines, especially since they are advised not to take many drugs that could affect the fetus.
"I have never received a flu shot. I know that they grow a lot when you are pregnant. Since I have never had one before, I have the feeling that I would probably not benefit from it and that I would have side effects. Idk, I'm just nervous and I do not know what's the best, "wrote a future mother in an online forum hosted by" what to expect ".
But the CDC notes that pregnant women are more likely to end up in the hospital or even die from influenza, and also points out that vaccination during pregnancy can help protect a newborn who is too young to get vaccinated.
Nicole Harrington, a pharmacist at Christiana Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware, did not hesitate to be vaccinated against the flu on Thursday as part of a mass vaccination campaign. She is six months pregnant.
"I have received the vaccine not only to protect myself, but especially to protect my peers I work with and, of course, my baby too," Harrington told NBC News.
This is Harrington's second pregnancy. "Even during pregnancy, I think protecting ourselves is worth a small sting," Harrington said.
Yet last year, only 35% of pregnant women in the United States had received an influenza vaccine in early November, the CDC found.
Naleway, along with Dr. Mark Thompson of the CDC's influenza division and other researchers, examined the medical records of 2 million pregnant women in the United States, Canada, Australia and Israel between 2010 and 2016.
They found 1,000 hospitalized women with flu-like symptoms who had also been tested for influenza to confirm the diagnosis. Of these, about half were tested positive for the flu. The study reveals that only 13% of them have been vaccinated.
In comparison, 22% of pregnant women who tested negative for influenza had been vaccinated.
After adjusting for age, season and other factors, the researchers said the vaccine reduced the risk of hospitalization by 40%.
They also found a very low vaccination rate. Only 16% of all pregnant women had been vaccinated against the flu, they reported in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Pregnant women are more vulnerable to several complications of influenza because of the suppression of their immune system and the fact that pregnancy affects the heart and lungs.
"The flu can also be harmful to the developing baby of the pregnant woman. Fever is a common symptom of influenza, which may be associated with neural tube defects and other adverse consequences for a developing baby, "says the CDC.
A study conducted in 2017 suggested that some pregnant women who were vaccinated for influenza two years in a row were at a higher risk of miscarriage. The CDC says it's still analyzing this study, which involved two specific influenza seasons.
This study is a special case, said the CDC.
"Many studies have shown that women who had received a flu shot during pregnancy did not have a higher risk of spontaneous abortion (miscarriage)," adds the CDC. "For years, millions of pregnant women have received influenza vaccines with a good safety record."
Source link
