Reports confirm HIN1 flu strike 'pregnant women' hard

Lead author of the study, Dr. Michelle L. Giles, from Monash Medical Center in Clayton, Victoria, Australia, and her team write, "This finding underscores the importance of education regarding recommendations for vaccination in pregnancy and the need for rapid testing and earlier use of antivirals in suspected influenza."

Previous studies have found that pregnant women with swine flu may be at higher risk of developing complications such as pneumonia; however, the study author said that the effects of the flu on the developing fetus are not understood well.

Some studies have also shown that pregnant women are not at greater risk of catching the virus than anyone else, they are about four times as likely to develop severe complications, including the loss of their baby, if they do.

Details of study:
In order to study the effect of influenza A (H1N1) stain in pregnant women, researchers looked at 43 expecting women who had H1N1 admitted to hospitals in Australia during the 2009 outbreak.

Out of 43 women, two were admitted during their first trimester, while 13 during their second trimester and 28 in their third trimester.

25 mums-to-be were admitted to hospitals due to flu-like symptoms, all but one of these women spent less than seven days in the hospital. But among the 11 patients admitted for pneumonia, seven were hospitalized for at least a week.

Outcome of the study
50 percent of females had one or the other health problems such as either they were asthmatic, obese or diabetic. But these females did not seem to be at greater risk of pneumonia or pregnancy complications as compared to females without any health problems.

15 delivered babies while admitted in hospitals, six before 37 weeks' gestation and nine at 37 weeks or later.

The scientists had outcome information on 24 infants at the end of July 2009. 21 were alive, two had died while in the womb and one died 26 days after birth due to prematurity related complications. Seven of the infants, including the baby who died, were tested for swine flu, and none of them were infected.

The study authors noted that nearly 40 percent of the females went into preterm labor, while the normal rate of premature delivery for the hospitals included in the study was around 10 percent.

All subjects who gave birth to babies before 37 weeks and had their chest X rays taken tested positive for pneumonia.

Giles and her colleagues said that nearly 75 percent of the pregnant women in the study were given Oseltamivir (Tamiflu), an antiviral medicine used for both treating people who have already had the flu, or those at risk from getting the flu.

The team noted that two-thirds had been sick for at least two days before getting the medication. The patients should be given flu medication as soon as possible after symptoms begin in order to get more benefit, they said.