Pregnant women and the H1N1 vaccine
Since I’m still searching for some H1N1 flu vaccine for my pregnant daughter, I thought I’d pass on some information I’ve researched.
Even the U.S. Senate is voicing dismay at the shortage of swine flu vaccine while swine flu begins to peak in the U.S. I can’t find any in Oregon. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) site had a “Flu Vaccine Locator” section on the site yesterday, but I couldn’t find it on the site today. I had checked all the Oregon locations listed anyway, but none of them had the vaccine so the locator was not accurate.
According to a study conducted by Purdue University, the vaccine will arrive too late for most people.
Here’s a statement of advice from the CDC site:
What can I do to protect myself, my baby and my family?
Getting a flu shot is the single best way to protect against the flu. Talk with your doctor about getting a seasonal flu shot and the 2009 H1N1 flu shot. You will need both flu shots this year to be fully protected against flu. You should get both shots as soon as they are available to protect you and your baby. The seasonal flu shot has been shown to protect both the mother and her baby (up to 6 months old) from flu-like illness.
Talk with your doctor right away if you have close contact with someone who has 2009 H1N1 flu. You might need to take medicine to reduce your chances of getting the flu. Your doctor may prescribe Tamiflu® or Relenza® to help prevent 2009 H1N1 flu. To prevent flu, you would take a lower dose of the antiviral medicine for 10 days.
Is it safe for pregnant women to get a flu shot?
The seasonal flu shot has been given to millions of pregnant women over many years. Flu shots have not been shown to cause harm to pregnant women or their babies. The 2009 H1N1 flu shot is made in the same way and in the same places as the seasonal flu shot. It is very important for pregnant women to get both the seasonal flu shot and the 2009 H1N1 flu shot. Please see http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/ to learn more.
Here’s an important study underway for pregnant women and the swine flu vaccine: http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/QA/H1N1pregnanttrials.htm.
The religious character of the debate
Like many things in society, the swine flu vaccine debate has taken on an atmosphere resembling a religious dispute: Some people are vehemently against any type of vaccine, including this one, for a variety of reasons: It supposedly causes autism and other problems in kids, it’s a government plot to kill people, etc. The internet is full of “supposed” evidence backing up these claims, but I find the evidence is typically anecdotal, therefore faulty. It simply does not hold up to scientific scrutiny.
Those people who insist the H1N1 epidemic is nothing to worry about, and that the swine flu vaccine is more dangerous than the flu it is intended to prevent, have a good chance of being able to brag about being correct when this swine flu scare is all over. That is because few diseases ever reach their full potential to be truly lethal to mankind, especially in this modern age of health prevention and care. The same is true for swine flu: Chances are it will pass, illnesses will continue to be mild, and the anti-vaccine crowd will say, “See, I told you so!.”
The problem is that this is like running stop lights all over town. Chances are you’ll get away with running stop lights for quite a while, but one day you’ll run a stop light and get hit broadside by a big truck. Then you’ll wish you had stopped at all the stop lights to make sure it’s safe to cross.
The history of humanity is the history of diseases ravaging human populations, often displacing entire populations. It happened in this country with “old world” diseases killing off 95% of native populations in the 100 years after the arrival of Columbus in 1492. And it happened repeatedly in Europe and Asia and Africa before that time. This is where a study of history is so valuable, but most people do not read history. Only a couple of hundred years ago, George Washington saved the Continental Army by vaccinating his troops (an early crude method) against smallpox at Valley Forge so they could come out of their winter quarters and be an effective force against the British. As recently as 1918 a flu killed millions of Americans because we had no protection against it.
Now we have a method — vaccination — of preventing diseases from killing us. It’s not perfect, we are often wrong about which disease poses a significant risk, and sometimes various vaccines have side effects, but it’s a method I bet the Indians wished they had when Columbus arrived. But there are so many people in our society who have no idea of what has happened in the past, and who have little understanding what constitutes reasonable scientific evidence, that they willingly believe the dubious anti-vaccine literature that pollutes the internet.
I’m merely trying to find a way to keep my pregnant daughter and my other children and grandkids safe, but I have to wade through piles of intellectual rubbish as I search the internet.
October 21st, 2009 at 7:56 pm
They don’t have the shot available down here, just the nasal spray. but according to http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/nasalspray_qa.htm you should not give it to kids with asthma. my almost 5 year old son has mild asthma. we called his doc and he said he should get it anyways.
The tough thing is that people with asthma are more prone to complications if they contract h1n1. rock/hard place. I wish they just had the shots available or could tell me when they will become available.
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:19 am
My grandson, Gavin, who is not yet four, has symptoms of asthma, and I cannot find clear guidance on this, so for now my daughter is holding off getting him the nasal vaccine.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Here’s the link to the CDC pdf advice page that talks about kids with asthma not getting the nasal vaccine:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-laiv-h1n1.pdf
October 26th, 2009 at 11:02 am
I don’t believe a word the CDC says! Anything you inject a pregnant woman with is going to go to the baby… and the research is just NOT there, that says the swine flu vaccine will not hurt the unborn child… or the mother, for that matter. Everybody & their uncle has had or has now the swine flu, in our town. Nobody has died yet. They’ve gotten sick… then have gotten better. Yes, some people have died from the swine flu, in our country, & more will in the future before all is said & done. There are some things in life we just have no control over… and worrying about them won’t change that.
You and I are of an age where we’ve been around the block a time or two, Dave… so we should both know this fact well by now. The folks in 1918 just went about their business of daily living, when the big flu hit back then. They buried their dead, mourned their losses, and went forward. Worry back then didn’t change anything either.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
A lot of people feel like you. Here’s a Fox News poll that indicates many think as you do. And in a CNN poll, 53% don’t plan to get the vaccine. And many of the comments on this blog post say the same thing.
To me, however, you are all betting on the wrong horse. Regarding pregnant women, especially, it is the swine flu that is far more dangrous than the vaccine. The following comment by a doctor on the above blog echoes my view:
It is curious (and disappointing) how many people contributing comments to this web site are convinced that since the novel H1N1 vaccine has not been PROVED to be PERFECTLY safe (an impossible task, of course), it is automatically assumed to be more dangerous that an infection which we know has a high chance of causing significant morbidity and even significant mortality. This risk is known to be much higher in certain risk groups.
Many pregnant women appear to be willing to risk treating their unborn babies with antiviral agents when they become infected, in spite of the fact that these drugs are known to be an unwise option compared to any imagined risks of the vaccine. Mothers fear the risks of their children developing autism from a vaccine which has NEVER (EVER!) been shown to cause this problem in children.
The vaccines being tested are essentially IDENTICAL to vaccines which have been proven to be both VERY safe and VERY efficacious over MANY years. These vaccines are being offered to treat an infection which we expect to be wide-spread and proven to be a serious risk in some patients.
The risks don’t come getting the vaccine. The real risks come from getting the infection if you do not get the vaccine.
John W. Aldis, M.D.
AAFP, MPH & Tropical Medicine