Swine flu vaccine during pregnancy

[sneha2015]

Hi all, Soon I am travelling to India for 3 weeks (during my 4 month). I read in the newspaper that swine flu is again widely spread in many cities (including my home town). I asked my doctor here if I should take any vaccine before flying to India, as pregnant women come in high risk category but she said that it is not recommended to get any flu vaccine in pregnancy. However I searched a lot on Internet and read that it's always recommendable to get the vaccine if you are pregnant and on the other hand read that many misscarried just after the vaccination. I am really worried. Has anyone else also got swine flu vaccine or planning to get one. What are the doctor in India saying?

Any feedback will be of great help.

Thanks

 

[spicyorange]

That's nonsense! Flu vaccines are vital during pregnancy! And there is no credable evidence that they can cause miscarriage. (Although there is always the case that some people will have two unrelated events near in time and associate the two). I work in vaccination and yes I've had it with no ill effects. The seasonal flu vaccine (offered routinely to all pregnant women here in the UK) contains swine flu as one if the strains, I don't know if that's different in other countries. But quite simply your doctor is wrong and you should get it. Sorry if I sound heated but I'm really passionately believe that it's important to be protected against flu which can be deadly during pregnancy and I get cross when so called medical professionals give bad advice!

 

[Eleanor ace]

Wow I'd get a new doctor. Where do you live? In the UK all pregnant women are recommended to get the flu vaccine. I have it each year anyway but would always get it. I caught swine flu with my 1st LO, I was really ill and miscarried. I don't know for sure that it was due to the flu but my doctor said most likely and I feel it was.

 

[noon_child]

I had the flu vaccine in my third trimester. It also meant my LO was likely to be protected against those strains of flu for the first few months of her life.

 

[sneha2015]

I am in switzerland not UK. I have my next appointment on 10th and will ask her again but if she again says no then I will have to get it done once I reach India.

 

[spicyorange]

Sorry I didn't mean to scare you, most people who get flu will recover, so don't worry too much but because your pregnant your lung capacity and immune system are affected and so if you do get it it can be serious.

 

[noon_child]

I found this in an article dated 2 yrs ago - I can't find any info to say it has changed:

"In Switzerland, the inclusion in summer 2010 of pregnant women in the recommendations relative to vaccination against seasonal flu followed the development of the A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic. After the A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization on 11 June 2009, the media widely echoed the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of Diseases (CDC) study published at the end of July in The Lancet [13], which related the death of six pregnant women in the United States associated with complications subsequent to A(H1N1)pdm09 flu. In the fall of 2009, the Swiss national authorities, the Office fédéral de la santé publique (Federal Office of Public Health [OFSP]) and the Commission fédérale pour les vaccinations (the Federal Commission for Vaccinations [CFV]), based their conclusions on this study to justify classifying pregnant women in an at-risk category 1, thus warranting A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccination. From the summer of 2010, reaffirming the excess mortality observed in pregnant women and the scientifically demonstrated reliability of the H1N1/H3N2/B trivalent vaccine, the Swiss health authorities generalized the recommendation for vaccination against seasonal flu for this new at-risk group 2."

If you want the full paper https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0398762012005809

 

[sneha2015]

spicyorange,

I totally agree with you and you did not scare me at all. I am just worried as this is my first pregnancy and I really want to visit my family. At the same time I am scared to death about increase in number of swine flu cases in my hometown. And then I read somewhere these reviews that people misscarried within 1-2 days after vaccination (even in 2nd trimester). So right now I am totally confused and already scared

 

[sneha2015]

I found this in an article dated 2 yrs ago - I can't find any info to say it has changed:

"In Switzerland, the inclusion in summer 2010 of pregnant women in the recommendations relative to vaccination against seasonal flu followed the development of the A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic. After the A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization on 11 June 2009, the media widely echoed the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of Diseases (CDC) study published at the end of July in The Lancet [13], which related the death of six pregnant women in the United States associated with complications subsequent to A(H1N1)pdm09 flu. In the fall of 2009, the Swiss national authorities, the Office fédéral de la santé publique (Federal Office of Public Health [OFSP]) and the Commission fédérale pour les vaccinations (the Federal Commission for Vaccinations [CFV]), based their conclusions on this study to justify classifying pregnant women in an at-risk category 1, thus warranting A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccination. From the summer of 2010, reaffirming the excess mortality observed in pregnant women and the scientifically demonstrated reliability of the H1N1/H3N2/B trivalent vaccine, the Swiss health authorities generalized the recommendation for vaccination against seasonal flu for this new at-risk group 2."


Wow..that's great. Thanks!

 

[bathbabe]

I had the swine flu vax when i was pregnant with my son. Id deffo get it hun x

 

[Christi85]

As far as I know, flu vaccines are recommended in pregnancy, just NOT during the first trimester. Hope that helps.

 

[sneha2015]

Thank you every one for your replies.