Swine Flu & Pregnancy

[NervousNellie]

Hi! I just found out this week that I'm pregnant. With having health anxiety, the swine flu is scaring me. I plan to get the vaccine when it is available, but it may be difficult to find it because neither one of my doctors will be carrying it. I've only heard terrible things about woman that came down with swine flu during pregnancy. Is there anybody out there that has had this during pregnancy? Or do you know of someone that had it? I need to know that if I get this, I'm going to make it through! It's spreading through my community right now and I'm absolutely terrified!

[peytonbusch]

The H1N1 virus or swine flu is thought to put pregnant women at a greater risk for serious complications. This is certainly true for the seasonal flu. Though about 6% of the deaths in the United States from H1N1 virus have been pregnant women. Some of these women have had other chronic conditions (http://pregnancy.about.com/od/conditionscomplications/Conditions_and_Complications_of_Pregnancy.htm), though pregnancy, particularly in the third trimester (http://pregnancy.about.com/od/trimesterguide/a/3rdtrimester.htm) is known to make it harder to recover from respiratory infections.

Drug companies are currently at work on a vaccination that will help protect people from the swine flu. They expect to test it on volunteers in August. After tweaking they hope to have nearly 160 doses available by October. There are actually pecking orders for who has priority in pandemics for medications. Due to the discordant numbers of pregnant women suffering serious side effects, it is rumored that they will be at the top of the list, after health care workers, though this has not yet happened.