Women - Pregnant women urged to get vaccinated

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Pregnant women urged to get vaccinated

BALTIMORE (UPI) -- The risk of serious influenza-related sickness far outpaces the risk of injectable vaccine in pregnant women, a U.S. review of studies found.

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore, Emory University in Atlanta and Cincinnati Children's Hospital said pregnant women who catch the flu are at serious risk for flu-related complications, including death, and that risk far outweighs the risk of possible side effects from injectable vaccines containing killed virus.

Lead investigator Dr. Pranita Tamma, an infectious disease specialist at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, said the researchers did an extensive review of data from three past flu pandemics and 11 published research studies on vaccine safety outcomes over 44 years.

The study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, found no increased risk of either maternal complications or bad fetal results from the flu vaccine.

The researchers also point out that even though study after study has found no link between the vaccine stabilizer thimerosal and autism, thimerosal-free injectable versions of the flu vaccine are available for those who have lingering concerns.

"If you are an expectant mother, get vaccinated," Tamma said in a statement."If you are a physician caring for pregnant women, urge your patients to get vaccinated."

There are no published data on the safety of the new H1N1 vaccine, but experts believe it to be just as safe as the seasonal flu vaccine, Tamma said.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 10/30/2009

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