Never before has the flu gotten so much attention—and unfortunately, it’s for good reason. Between the seasonal flu, and H1N1 influenza, this year is expected to be a particularly bad flu season.  Pregnant women and children (particularly children under 6) can be affected more severely by influenza than other groups.  Therefore, I couldn’t miss this opportunity to write about flu prevention to the TM readers, as well as to discuss flu vaccine in pregnancy. 

The mainstay of flu prevention (and virus prevention in general) is good hygiene, which gets back to the basics our moms told us when we were kids—wash your hands often, cover your nose/mouth when you sneeze or cough, avoid close contact with people who are known to have the flu (or who are sick), as well as “staying home from school” yourself, if you are sick.  If you have little kids, this is definitely the year to be hyper-vigilant about hand washing and if your kids are in daycare or preschool to make sure that the school is adopting these policies as well. 

However, despite following all of these guidelines, it is still possible to get the flu—which is one of the reasons why the seasonal flu vaccine has been recommended for pregnant women for years—and there is no change in this recommendation this year.  The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as well as the Centers for Disease Control support this recommendation.  If you’re pregnant between October through mid-May, it’s recommended that you get the flu shot—doing the math, you can see that this is essentially ALL pregnant women.  The best time to be vaccinated is early during the flu season—generally considered to be October or so.  However, just because you might have missed this window you are still recommended to get it.

The injectable flu vaccine is an inactivated virus vaccine that is safe for use in all trimesters.  The inhaled flu vaccine DOES contain live virus and should not be used during pregnancy.  One of the added bonuses of vaccination during pregnancy is that you will help to pass on these antibodies (and immunity) to your baby, particularly if you breastfeed after your baby is born.

Pregnant women have been targeted as one of the initial groups to received H1N1 vaccine, along with persons who live with or care for infants <6 months, health care workers, children and young adults (6 months—24 years old), and adults with chronic medical conditions that place them at higher risk for the complications associated with the flu.

Although the vaccine is a major step for prevention, it is not 100% effective.  Therefore, if you’re pregnant and you do get flu-like symptoms (fever > 100.0 Fahrenheit, as well as having a cough, runny nose, sneezing, etc.) you should call your Ob/Gyn.  Most doctors are able to triage patients over the phone to determine who should be seen in the office and who should just receive anti-flu medications without an office visit.  These medications are most effective when started within 48 hours of symptoms, but if you miss that window, and your doctor recommends that you take them, you should take them.

Now, being an Ob/Gyn, I have heard of lot of concerns people have raised about vaccines or medications during pregnancy; and in general, I tend to agree that pregnant women shouldn’t take unnecessary medications.  However, I cannot recommend strongly enough, that if you are pregnant, both of these vaccines (seasonal and H1N1 influenza) are vaccines that you should get.

After all, the goal is always a healthy mom and healthy baby.  Taking the flu seriously - and taking the steps to prevent it - will help meet that goal.

By Christine Skiadas, M.D.

The content is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.